Love Me
by Toyoko
Summary: A few years into the future and Sam gets married to Ben, a normal man, but suddenly when she thinks she’s over Danny, he comes back into her life. Who will she choose? The man who calls her Samantha, or the man who would risk his life to save hers? Sequel
1. Meet the Family

Sequel to Haunt Me

**Love Me**

**Welcome to the sequel to ****HAUNT ME**** which was a success! Thanks to all who reviewed for the last chapter of Haunt Me: Devilchild93, 4kitty101, Vespisia, goth.one, Smallvillegirl2, TwoHats and SantoryuTripled.**

**Chapter 1: Meet the Family**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom but I do own this sequel! Yeaaaahhhh!**

**6 YEARS LATER**

Samantha quickly pulled on her white sweater over her baby blue button down blouse. She patted down her black pleated skirt and shoved her unpolished toes into black baby doll shoes. She brushed her hair into a ponytail and checked herself in the mirror. Over the past few years, she had grown her hair down to her back and dropped the dark make-up and being Goth. Sure it was her way to live life and enjoy it, but everything went awry after Danny left.

She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. Danny. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She would have to forget him; he was no longer in her life. He had told her that himself.

"Samantha! Hurry and get down here! We're going to be late!" Benjamin yelled from downstairs.

"I'll be there in a sec, Ben!" She yelled back.

"For the last time, it's Benjamin!" She could hear him reply. Sam rolled her eyes as she grabbed up her black handbag.

"Whatever," she mumbled. She closed the door to the room that she shared with Benjamin and hurried downstairs. Benjamin was waiting for her at the door dressed in white trousers, soft pink button-down shirt and a white sweater hanging over his shoulder. He was Sam's husband of 4 years. He stood at 5 feet 10 inches with chestnut hair that was always neat and blue eyes that showed he was always in control and in command.

"Do I have to wear this?" Samantha asked as she stopped in front of him.

"Of course we have to honey, do you want to go to the Neils' house party in jeans and a T-shirt?" He asked, laughing. Samantha gave him a look that said, "That's what I wanted to wear". He pecked her on the lips and took her free hand.

"Where are you two going?" Zoey asked. She was 14 years old, an orphan of a black woman and a white man, adopted by Sam when she was 10. Sam had known her since she was 8 and had taken a liking to her. After all, she was just like Sam. She was currently going through the 'Goth stage' as Benjamin called it, but Zoey said it was her calling and Sam didn't mind. Sam missed her old self, she missed her old life. But it was time to move forward and stop living in the teenage years. She had gotten married and left everything behind her, including Danny. Sam turned to Zoey and removed her hand from Benjamin's.

"We're just going to a little party at the Neils' house," Sam said, trying to make Zoey's short black hair with red highlights, spikier than they were. Zoey's hazel eyes focused on Benjamin with hatred.

"We don't have all day! Come on Samantha!" Benjamin said.

"You know I hate that guy, Sam," Zoey whispered.

"I know you do and sometimes I do too, but we have to listen to my mother and father or else we have nothing to look forward to in the future, okay," Sam said, resting her hands on Zoey's shoulders.

"Why do you listen to everything they say?" Zoey asked.

"Because if I don't, who's going to look after you and send you to college?" Sam smiled at her daughter.

"I know that you can do that by yourself Sam, you have a good enough job."

"How about I tell you the story when I get back home?"" Sam asked standing up straight.

"Does it involve a guy?" Zoey asked excitedly. Sam smiled at her and nodded.

"It sure does," she said.

"Let's go, Samantha. I don't care about this thing about being fashionably late, I think it's more respectful if we arrive on time!" Benjamin fussed as he grasped Sam's arm and whisked her off.

"Bye mom!" Zoey called at the door.

"Bye Zoe!" Sam called as she sat in the front seat of their (insert expensive car). Benjamin got into the drivers' seat, buckled in and started the car. Very soon they were on their way to the party.

"What were you and Zoey talking about for so long?" He asked.

"Oh, you know, girl stuff," Sam smiled lovingly.

"You've come a long way from when we met, Samantha. You are less vicious than you were when you were 18 and you are more lady-like. Thank God you grew out of that Goth stage," he said, emphasis on 'Goth'.

"I'm glad I changed also, Ben," she said.

"We have been married for 4 years, Samantha. I thought that by now you would have understood that I do not like being called Ben," he said.

"I know, I just like to tease you," she said.

"I don't like to be teased either," he said.

'I've always hated rich, haughty people, who would have thought I'd get married to one?' Sam thought to herself. She didn't say anything else to Benjamin for the rest of the ride. After all she was a changed woman.

**Okay, so that's just the first chapter. I still don't have that much planned but I will do that. And I'm not sure how long you really get in prison for killing someone, but I'll find a way to get out of that. So, look forward to seeing Danny once again!**


	2. Story Time

**I know you have all been waiting for the second chapter and well, the continuation of the story but I must warn you I am not completely sure what will happen and at what time so I'm gonna need some time to sort that out, so please bear with me. **

**Thanks to:**

Devilchild93, Smallvillegirl2, SamZ, Poof, SantoryuTripled, Calovan, 4kitty101, bloodmoon13, YouHitMyHeart101 and phantomgirl15

**Chapter 2: Story Time**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.**

Sam entered the house, tired from the house party she had been to all evening. Rich people sure had a lot of energy was what she was thinking as she made her way upstairs. Benjamin entered behind her, a huge smile on his face. He personally had enjoyed the party. He had seen all of his friends and had done a lot of manly chat with them, discussing basically how rich he was and what he could afford, not to mention, how beautiful and obedient his wife was. All of his friends envied him because of Samantha. She was absolutely beautiful and graceful not to mention she didn't nag Benjamin as their wives nagged them.

"Was that party not wonderful?" Benjamin asked as he ran up the stairs to embrace Sam from behind. Sam scowled as he hugged her from behind and started to kiss her on her neck. She pushed him off.

"I…I…I'm not feeling so well right now, Benjamin. I'd appreciate it if you could just back off a little tonight," she said to him.

"Samantha, why is it that every time I want to engage in sexual intercourse with you, you never feel well? You do realize that in the four years we have been married I have only had sex with you once a year?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, but…I have to go do something else," she said and turned away from him.

"Didn't you just say that you weren't feeling well, Sam? If you're ill then you should be lying in bed and I'll take care of you," Benjamin said. He turned Sam around to face him. He raised her hand to his mouth and lowered his lips to it as his eyes remained locked with hers.

'NO!!' Something screamed in her head. It was the same voice that had screamed 'no' every time she was kissing Benjamin or the few times she had had rather boring sex with him. She never had sex with him often because it would just come down to one name: Danny. Then her mind would drift off to that wonderful night with Danny, that sinful night that she couldn't bring herself to regret. She couldn't stop thinking about how she wished she was married to Danny instead of Benjamin.

Benjamin kissed the promise ring she had received years before. She wore it on the same finger where she wore her wedding ring. She had worn it on every date she had been on with Benjamin and even on her wedding day. She couldn't help feeling guilty, as if she was cheating on her husband, but she couldn't take it off or leave it at the house, it meant too much to her and she knew and always had that she and Danny were soul mates and were meant to be together till the end of time and beyond.

Her hand fell to her side as Benjamin dropped it.

"You never told me about this ring, Sam. You always had it on, on every date and after we were married. Did some old boyfriend give it to you?" He joked.

"No, he wasn't my boyfriend," she said.

'He was much more,' she added in her mind. Benjamin knew nothing of Danny and it was best he didn't, according to her parents that is.

"So what was he? I mean, you were it everywhere! I am your husband, how can I not know him?" He raised his voice.

"He died," Sam stated. Benjamin shut up when he heard that.

"And he was absolutely the most wonderful person I had met, apart from Tucker that is. If I could name the most important people in my life it would be Tucker, then him," Sam said, wanting to tell him the truth and leave him appalled, leave him feeling like the crappiest person on the earth, but she caught herself before the damage could be done.

"At least, that was a long time ago, before…before I met you," she said and her eyes fell to her left. She was lying to him, making him feel like he was the only thing that mattered to her now. She couldn't look him in the eyes. She was leading him on and she had to continue to do it or else things would get bad.

"So, did you love him?" Benjamin asked. Sam's eyes snapped up to look at him. Had he caught her.

"As a friend, Samantha since I know that in truth I am your first boyfriend, now husband," he said haughtily. Sam's expression relaxed at his words.

"Yes I did, I loved him more than life itself," she said.

"Samantha, I love you, you do know that, right?" He asked after a few seconds of hesitation, feeling like he needed to hear his wife say it since she could say it for some dead guy.

"Yeah, I know," she said, turning away. She made the rest of the way up the stairs and knocked on Zoey's door. Benjamin couldn't help but notice that she didn't say it back. Zoey opened her door, saw Sam standing outside and Benjamin standing on the stairs and she ushered Sam inside quickly.

"So, how did the party go?" Zoey asked as she slammed and locked the door behind her, not really interested in hearing about the party.

"It sucked, how can you party with people who only think about how expensive their stuff is? And I had to lie to Ben again, this time directly. He expects me to say that I love him but…but I can't because I don't. My heart belongs to someone else, even though I may never see him again," Sam said as she flopped on Zoey's bed. Zoey sat beside her mother and looked at her expectedly. Sam looked at her.

"It's time to hear that story you wanted to tell me, Sam you know about how and why you got married to that dummy, instead of the guy you always talk about yet never tell me his name," Zoey said.

"Okay, get comfy," Sam said patting the space beside her. Zoey grinned widely as she made herself comfortable beside Sam. Sam stared at the ceiling as all the memories came washing over her: both the good ones and the bad ones. She closed her eyes, sighed and thought of how and where to begin.

"Well, it all began with me deciding that I didn't want to be like everyone or more specifically be like all the rich, spoilt brats I had met through my mother and father. I decided to be different and because of that these problems started to come from out of nowhere, problems I didn't know existed. For instance, they said they never really wanted a child and that they wished they had aborted me," Sam started.

"When you say different, what do you mean?" Zoey asked, staring at the ceiling also.

"I was Goth, like you and they wished I was more girly, more into spending their money, but I wasn't. Anyway, one day they decided to move, I guess they thought that by moving into a new town I would become a new person."

"So, did you?" Zoey asked. Sam smiled as the most important person in the story was now ready to be introduced.

"Yes I did," Sam said.

"How? Did you change then and started to suck up to those dimwits?" Zoey asked.

"No, Zoey. I met a guy. And his name was Danny Fenton."

**I know its short but I couldn't resist leaving it at this. It was so tempting, now we're gonna find out what Sam says about Danny in the next chapter. I can't wait. This is my last year of high school (11****th**** grade at my school) and I have this huge exam next year, about 9 months time so…I can't promise a chapter per month like I do. Got lots of studying to do.**


	3. Sam's Love Story

**OMG! I am soooooo sorry, but you gotta understand! School has been very stressing and I'm sure you all know about the exams I have next year. I'm thinking of just giving this whole story thing a break until next year, but I can't do that to you guys, so, I'm going to have to stop the one chapter a month promise. I'm sorry, but I have so much to do and no time to do it. **

**Thanks to: mystic, Baka Hanyou Raevyn, kenzie1355, Devilchild93, Pop Dragon, bloodmoon13, RenesmeeScarlet and Smallvillegirl2. I hope that's all. Thanks you guys!**

**Chapter 3: Sam's Love Story**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom**

"You mean…THEE Danny Fenton who killed THEE Vlad Masters? No way, Sam!" Zoey said. Sam smiled slightly at her daughter.

"Trust me, he didn't kill him, but…in a way, he didn't," Sam said, wishing she could tell Zoey her secret…and Danny's too, but she couldn't, no matter what, she told herself, she would never and could never allow herself to betray Danny's story. Not even to her daughter.

"Huh? You got me confused, Sam," Zoey said.

"What I want to say is that…well…don't judge him by that, by him currently being in prison because he doesn't belong there. Danny…Danny wouldn't hurt a fly…unless he had to of course. His parents were in danger and he was miserable."

"But being miserable doesn't give anyone the right to kill," Zoey said, being her usual self and always being the one to voice her opinions.

"Just ignore that part of his life, that part is a secret that only a select few know of and its one of those, 'If I tell you, I gotta kill you' things," Sam said. Zoey's eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'O'. She liked secrets especially those kind.

"Ok, Sam, fine, continue with your story," Zoey relaxed, totally ready to hear about Sam's convict boyfriend. She had so many questions but she knew when to wait and she could tell that most if not all of her questions would be answered by the end of the story. Sam took a deep breath and began.

"Danny is by far the most interesting man I have ever met. When we met, he hated me…and I hated him too, but something happened during the first few days in Amity and it was because of one mistake on my part why we ended up stuck together," Sam started.

"What does he look like?" Zoey asked.

"Oh, he was absolutely gorgeous. The sexiest man to ever walk the Earth," Sam said, sounding as if she was imagining bar of tasty chocolate. Zoey giggled at this and Sam continued.

"I never admitted it for a long time, for like 3 or so months, but I always knew. He had wonderful raven hair that grew so uniquely over his eyes just a bit and he was tall and well built. His eyes were the most amazing blue ever! At first, they were like ice because he shut everyone out of his life, but then, when we started to get along they were this lovely baby blue, nothing icy about them at all.

"So…why did you two hate each other?"

"Because he was a loner. Ghosts were after him and they spotted me talking to him once. They got the notion that we were together, so they added me to their list."

"Why were ghosts after him?" Zoey asked, now very curious.

"Because he was friends with Phantom, best friends I would say," Sam replied.

"You mean that ghost kid who used to fight ghosts in Amity a while back before all the ghosts plus Phantom disappeared?"

"How do you know all of this?" Sam asked.

"I was like 7 or 8 when this happened and my memory is awesome," Zoey boasted.

"Then you saw it on TV," Sam stated.

"Yup," Zoey replied with a smile. Sam turned her head to the 14 year old and couldn't help her smile. She may not have Danny, but she knew Zoey could help to pull her through all her troubles…along with Tucker…and if she knew where Jazz was.

"Earth to Sam! Continue with your story! Its interesting!" Zoey urged.

"Ok! Ok! Anyway…because we were spotted together and the two ghosts saw us, I was assumed as his girlfriend, which was funny seeing as I despised him then. But the whole ordeal meant that he would have to keep watch on me 24/7, so he started to spend all of his nights in my room…"

"Did you guys do…you know…it?" Zoey interrupted. Sam laughed.

"No Zoe, we didn't, but we did call a truce over time and he became my second best friend, my first being Tuck of course," Sam said.

"Talk about love/hate relationships."

"It took a while for me to realize I was in love and actually admit it to him. It happened when I was doing this HUGE favour for him…"

"What favour?"

"That story is for another night," Sam said. Zoey pouted and folded her arms. Sam rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll leave," Sam teased, but before she could get up, Zoey's hand was holding her down.

"I still wanna hear the rest." Sam nodded and thought for a second, then she exploded in laughter.

"Joke please."

"Well, I remember this time he came into our room with just a towel on after his shower, he was standing there looking really sexy and it took everything I had not to jump on him. He told me a lot later that he was tempting me to be bad," Sam smiled.

"Wait a sec...OUR ROOM?" You shared a room with him?" Zoey screamed.

"Yeah, because my parents kept pressuring me. I slept right beside him and he would hold me when necessary, tease me, make me laugh, kiss me and love me and I liked it. Going to sleep with his arms around me and waking up to magnificent blue eyes, unmatched in beauty."

"So, it was like you and he were married then?"

"Well, kinda, that comes in at the last part of the story."

"What? Marriage?" Zoey asked eagerly, the story getting better and better.

"He gave me a kind of promise ring, though it sounds dumb. It meant that we were supposed to get married in the future," she said holding out her hand with the ring poised below her wedding ring.

"Oh! That's it? I've always wondered about that ring! Its beautiful!" Zoey said as she grabbed Sam's hand to get a better look at the ring.

"Yeah, that's it," Sam said, smiling as Zoey made a fuss over the ring.

"Ooh, I never your past was so interesting, but what I don't really get is why, if you love this guy so much, you got married to Benny the stiff and why you don't ever visit him," Zoey said. Sam sighed and her smile faded.

"Because that was what he wanted. I visited him every day after his arrest and court appearances. He assured me that he loved me, but waiting for him was foolish and he said I should just move on and forget him because he would ruin any chances I had at a future. I told him that he talking nonsense and that I would wait for him…for as long as he took…"Sam said. Her mind brought her back to her last visit with Danny. It all seemed not so long ago and she was surprised that she could even remember his exact words.

~~~*~~~

"Sam, I won't be getting out for many years to come. And I know I'm guilty. I did kill Vlad!" Danny said to her through the glass. He held her hand through the small semi-circle cut out of the bottom of the glass.

"But Danny, you can use your ghost powers! You could leave a clone and get out!" Sam said in a loud whisper that only Danny could hear her. Danny smiled and she saw the boy she loved. At that moment, she wanted to feel him in her arms, to feel his tall, well-built body gently pushed against her. She felt the need to run her fingers through his hair and to capture his lips…to make him a free man. But it was impossible on her end, all it needed was Danny's skill and cooperation.

"Sam…this…this is all for you," he said, his eyes roaming the room. Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'Wha…what…what the hell are you saying?" She asked.

"Think about it, Sam. Being the girlfriend…or even the wife of a former criminal. Your parents wouldn't support you any more, people would start to treat you differently and I won't be there all the time to protect you because if I did follow your plan and get out every now and then, I wouldn't be able to get a job or be seen anywhere with you. You would be alone."

"No, I won't! Jazz and Tuck will help me and you know I've never cared about what people say and Danny…your all that matters to me. I don't care!"

"Sam, listen to yourself, that's just your hormones talking. I don't matter at all, I am just a setback for you, something blocking you from reaching your goal in life and I won't be that setback for you Sam, because when I tell you I love you, I mean it and no matter how love is smart and beautiful, it is pain also. And now, Sam, I have to say goodbye, because after today I won't be seeing you again," Danny said, getting up. Sam held unto his hand and he sat back in his seat. His words had hurt. They had burned her and she could feel tears prickling at her eyes.

"But, Danny," she said, her eyes glittering with tears. If they had been somewhere else, he would have kissed those tears away and held her close, but that was something he could never have again. He would never have Sam.

"Don't cry, Sam. Just get out of Amity and start a new life, try not to let me hold you back. I wish I could tell you not to go and to stay with me forever, but look at the logics. It's all impossible," he said.

"But…but…I love you, Danny," she said, trying to hold on to him even though she knew deep down that what he had said was true.

"I know and I do love you too, but, I can't hold on to you, that would be wicked and so I have to let go. I have no other choice and neither do you," he said, stroking the ring he had given her. He stood from his chair and with a final nod and a look of utter pain, Danny was taken away. Sam sat on her chair for the next five minutes, everything washing over her and soaking in.

'Danny,' she thought. With that word on her mind, she rose from her chair and left. She never returned.

~~~*~~~

"But what happened?" Zoey asked.

"Basically he told me that a man in prison could be of no help to a girl who had a bright future," Sam shortened it.

"Its all so romantic, makes me wanna puke," Zoey said.

"Whatever Zoey, I know your all into the romantic stuff especially the dark kind, and the forbidden ones and my previous romance was definitely forbidden."

"So, Benny," Zoey said.

"Well, my parents moved me again trying to save their reputation. They told me that the next man they chose for me would be my husband and if I rebelled, they would disown me. I didn't have any fight in me then and I did what Danny wanted me to do, then I decided that I wanted a daughter…and a son. I thought that a few children could live off of my parent's money and become something in life. I thought of helping children. So far it's you, but I want more."

"OH!! I GET IT!! So that's why you're married to Ben, that's why you let the old man and the hag run your life and that's why you're getting me a little brother! Wait…you're getting me a little brother?" Zoey exclaimed.

"Ben doesn't know about my past or more importantly, my relationship with Danny, so he was perfect. He was the perfect man to start a new life with. Then I saw you and I needed to adopt you. One day, one day very soon you'll have a brother. He's 7 right now and the only reason I don't have him yet is because Ben just gave me the go sign to get him, so I'm going to pick him up this week."

"So, I'm going to have a little brother," Zoey said. It was more of a statement than a question. She was excited about it.

"Yes you will and he's absolutely adorable! He has curly raven hair, blue-violet eyes and he doesn't care much for trouble. He's a well-behaved child who is just the cutest thing I've ever seen," Sam smiled. Zoey almost jumped in joy. Finally, someone to boss around.

"But I won't allow you to boss him around…"Sam said. Zoey's smile fell.

"…much," she finished and Zoey's face was all alight. Sam sat up and thought of the little boy she had loved so much for the past 7 years. It was a love filled with pain, he was always so close yet so far.

"I love him, Zoey," Sam said.

"Who? The kid or Danny?" Zoey asked, sitting up beside Sam.

"Both of them, but I was talking about Danny. We did things that you shouldn't be thinking of. We slept together, wrapped in the sheets. He had respect for my body; he never once took advantage of me. He protected me, he stood up for me, he was on my side, he lived for me. We took showers together Zoey. We were one and never before him had I felt any of my emotions so strongly. And its now after I've lost him and will never get him back that I feel a million times what I felt when I was with him. You never know what you have until its gone," Sam said. She burst into tears at the end, feeling ridiculous.

"Sam, come on, stop crying. It's…it's going to be okay. Just, please stop crying," Zoey tried to get Sam to stop. She hated when Sam cried because Sam rarely did. Sam's crying subsided almost immediately and she wiped her tears from her eyes.

"That's not true, Zoe. It won't be alright. That day, I actually thought that what he said was right, but now I realized that he was indeed the only one that mattered and I wanted him, no one else, nothing else because right now, my life is miserable. It doesn't matter how rich or famous you are. No, it's the person who stands beside you through thick and thin, who suffers with you. Who rises with you, who rules with you and who dies with you."

"Sam, that's…that's," Zoey began but could not finish, tears were being held painfully behind her green eyes.

"The love that Danny and I shared was out of this world, it was supernatural. It wasn't normal," Sam said.

'After all, Danny wasn't normal,' she thought.

"I'm sorry, that's it. See you at breakfast tomorrow. Goodnight," Sam said and slipped outside. Zoey looked after the closed door and collapsed on her bed. A shiver ran down her spine. She had always dreamt of having such a romance that could only be found in books and having such relationships with a creature of the supernatural world: a vampire, a werewolf or a ghost, especially a ghost. That relationship would be interesting considering her past. But here was Sam, the lady who had adopted her, her mother, with the story of a romance that surpassed all the ones that Zoey had ever imagined. Sam had been in something different, like she had said, it was supernatural. Zoey believed in vampires and ghosts because she knew they were real. They had after all, killed her parents.

Sam made her way through the now dark hallway and to her room…well, the room she shared with her husband, Benjamin. Then it all clicked to her and she felt tears running down her face. She had to let go of Danny. She was married, and Danny was in prison. She harshly wiped her tears away as she stepped inside the room. It was dark. She walked past the bed and slid into the bathroom. She flicked on the light and stared at herself. She reached behind the door and took her pajamas from the hook. She slipped off her clothes and into her pastel pj's. She brushed her teeth and looked at herself once again.

'You have to make this work, Sam! Forget about him! He's not here anymore and he will never be here! Its time to let go!' She thought. She took a deep breath, feeling like she was going down the right path. She turned to leave and almost screamed when she saw Benjamin at the door.

"You scared me, Ben…jamin," she said. Maybe calling him Benjamin instead of Ben would help. Maybe she could even learn to love him. She smiled.

"But that's okay, I kinda like being scared," she flirted.

"I was just about to fall asleep when I remembered that I forgot to tell you that I invited a friend over for dinner tomorrow. I am so sorry, Samantha. I hope you don't mind cooking extra tomorrow," he said.

"No I don't. I'm actually glad you're inviting a friend over because I was going to invite one over also," Sam said, seeing a big opportunity.

"Well, sure, Samantha. Who is your friend by the way?"

"Who else but Tucker," she said, her smile widening. She hadn't seen him in ages.

"You know I don't really fancy the fellow, darling, but I can stand him. So, yes you may," he said. The rebel in Sam wanted to push him hard in the chest and tell him she never asked him a question and he wasn't the boss of her…but she suppressed it and managed to smile her way though it.

"And whom might your friend be?" She asked. His face seemed to brighten when Sam asked and he answered immediately

"Well, I thought you would never ask, Samantha. I met him last week in a bar. I was drunk with happiness because I had won yet another case! So I bought myself many celebratory drinks and I must admit, I was extremely drunk! I got in an argument with a regular: a guy who was much bigger than I will ever be and I was so close to being socked in the face. Then out of nowhere this tall man steps out of nowhere and right in front of me. He exchanged a few threats with the man and the regular actually backed down. I was relieved and thanked him, then I founf out that he was a rather intelligent man. I've seen him twice after and I invited him over to see my lovely wife. Since he said he wasn't in love like I was, I decided that he must meet you! Oh, Samantha! He's absolutely brilliant! And I think Zoey will like him!" Benjamin said excitedly.

'When did he start caring about Zoey?' Sam asked herself.

"Why would she?" Sam asked.

"Because he dresses in black all the time and he's the mysterious type. I don't worry about you though darling, I know you only have the hots for me," he said reaching out and touching Sam on her arm. Sam smiled and kissed him.

'This is right, Sam. He's your husband, you have all right to do this!!' She told herself as the kisses got less innocent.

"I thought you weren't feeling well," he said as they fumbled backwards, into the room and unto the bed.

"That's why I'm here, you're my remedy," she said and slipped off her top.

**School has been very stressful and I am asking you all to be easy on me as I don't see this story progressing much till next year. I am sooooo sorry, but I thank you for sticking with me and for all your great reviews. If there are any grammar issues, you can point them out. I may not be able to correct them, but I'm not on top of my game now-a-days. Thanks again and hopefully you'll see chapter 4 next month.**

**P.S. I hate Ben too :)**


	4. Daniel

**I know that this is a bit late, but hey, it's better than nothing. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!! LOL! I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Chapter 4: Daniel**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, though that was on my wish list for Santa this year…*sigh* Thanks a lot Santa.**

Sam could hear Tucker, Zoey and Shaire running around the house, creating a lot of noise, but she liked it. It made her day different, made her feel alive.

"Ben's friend had not yet arrived, but Sam frankly did not care. On the other hand, Ben was all over the place trying to get things ready for the visitor. She had never seen him so excited, which got her to thinking that this friend of his must be quite different. She was just glad to see Tucker again. He worked at the biggest computer manufacturing company in the state as one of the managers, so he was always busy. Sam didn't work. Her parents had said it would look good that way, the marriage that is. She was the one to cook, to clean, to tidy and to attend to anything relating to the house. And she did it for two people: Zoey and Shaire. Shaire was the little boy who she had picked up earlier, he was her son. She felt tears burn her eyes. It was horrible, her life. She hated it, but she no longer lived for herself, she lived for everyone else and for those who had died before their time. She knew life was sacred, but hers was worthless.

The door suddenly opened and the group of three: Tuck, Shai and Zoe, ran inside and straight toward Sam. A smile graced her lips as the two children jumped on her. She exploded into laughter as she fell off the chair, her 2 children on top of her. Green eyes and blue-violet stared into Sam's amethyst eyes and she couldn't help but think how lovely they looked as a family.

"Can I join too?" Tucker asked as he sat on the chair that Sam had just fallen off of. Sam smiled and sat up.

"Sure, why not," she said.

"Nah, your kids have done enough damage," he said, his eyes moving from Zoey to Shaire. Sam looked at Shai and wanted to burst into tears. He was finally hers, after 7 long years. No one would take him away from her. She hugged the bright eyed boy who was fitting in easily and quickly into her family. She squeezed her eyes shut, holding back the tears.

"I love you, remember that. Mommy loves you," she said, holding him tight.

"I love you too…mommy," he said as if he was trying on the word. Sam brought Zoey into the hug. She loved them both very, very much. Tucker observed them and his heart went out, as usual, to his best friend for life. He knew she had been through a lot and that she was feeling great pain, but he wasn't the one to take her pain away, no matter how hard he would try. He admired her though; she kept her cool and thought rationally. Any decision she made after today would be best for her kids. They were not Sam's and Ben's kids, no, they were Sam's and she needed them. Sam had changed drastically over the past years and he missed the old Sam.

The front door opened and closed and then they heard Benjamin's voice drifting up the stairs.

"Samantha! Tucker! Kids! He's here!" Benjamin said happily. Sam let go off the children and pushed them toward Tucker. She got up and surveyed them for a second.

"Ok, you're both good. Tucker take them downstairs and I'll follow in a bit," she said.

"Ok, Sam, but do you want me to come back up and wait for you?" He asked. She shook her head 'no'.

"Then I guess I'll see you downstairs then. Come on kids! Let's go meet this strange guy!" Tucker said.

"Yay!" Shaire screamed, being fun and childish.

"Hip, hip, hooray," Zoey said, sarcastically as she made her way out after the 2 males. She closed the door behind her. Sam quickly pulled on a knee-length pink skirt and a pink blouse. Her black pumps were on and her hair swept back into a long ponytail. Her make-up was done lightly and as she looked at herself in the mirror, she practiced her smile.

'Perfect,' she thought. As she turned to leave, Zoey burst into the room.

"OMG! Sam! He is absolutely adorable!" Zoey squealed. Sam looked at her in confusion.

"The guy downstairs, duh! He's so cool and so very, very cute! Sam, you gotta see him!" Zoey said and grabbed Sam by the hand. Sam was being pulled out the door and down the stairs. She had enough time to break free from Zoey and get herself in the mood before she entered.

There, in her kitchen, leaning on her sink and laughing it up with Benjamin was the most handsome man she had ever seen. She seemed to float over to them and when she smiled, it seemed as if she wasn't in her own body. He turned his eyes to her and Sam's feet touched ground harshly, almost throwing her off balance. She was back in reality, until his eyes met hers and her knees went wobbly. He was taller than her and Ben. His figure was laid back and well-built but not bulky. He wore black from head to toe and his hair was in a ponytail which grew halfway down his back. His skin was a bit pale, like a vampire. He was beautiful and those eyes, those blue eyes spoke to her, telling her that something was going to happen. He seemed almost dangerous, but so very sexy and safe. He was the meaning of contradiction. Shaire broke her trance as he attacked the stranger's leg. The man looked down at the little boy and lifted him up to their height. Sam was appalled. They resembled each other so intensely that anyone could mistake them for father and son and she the mother.

"Hi, I'm Samantha Nichols," she said pleasantly, hiding her attraction very well.

"Mommy, he's nice," Shaire said and hugged the man. The man laughed and allowed the child to hug him.

'What could he have possibly done in the 5 minutes I was upstairs to have everyone love him?' Sam wondered.

"And I'm Daniel," he said. The name struck her and her brain went flying into many calculations.

"This is a bit strange, Ben. Your wife looks exactly like someone I knew. She even has the same name, but I used to call her Sam. She hated Samantha," Daniel said. Sam's heart pounded faster as she heard this. It was impossible! She could feel her wobbly knees become weaker as she thought of the possibility. She came to the conclusion that IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE! She didn't even notice that Daniel had called her husband Ben.

"Danny…if you don't mind me calling you that…where did you say you were from again?" She asked, trying to hold herself up and keep her voice in check. Zoey looked at her mother then at the stranger with an analytical eye. Her eyes widened as realization hit her. She fell off her seat in shock. Everyone's eyes turned to look at Zoey, well, everyone except Danny and Sam. The look in Danny's eyes changed when she asked that. He clutched Shaire just a little bit tighter and his mind was going into overdrive at the very thought of…of the possibility that had seemed impossible 7 years before. But 7 years was long and people. He had. Even though he was losing his cool,, no one could see that he had. His body remained as relaxed as ever.

"Amity," he said. It barely registered to Sam before her knees gave way and her swirling thoughts went blank. This wasn't happening.

Danny could feel his strength failing and he quickly put down the boy. He looked at her. He really looked at her. It was Sam, Sam Manson and she was married and she was still beautiful. He inhaled and exhaled as everyone around him and her. Then he lifted her up and steadied himself.

"Don't worry about her, I'll just take her outside for a little air, she'll be ok," he said.

"Ok, I trust you, but don't take too long," Ben said, stepping back and calming himself.

"Mommy?" Shaire asked.

"Mom's ok, Shai. Uncle Danny is just going to bring her outside for a bit," Tucker said, his eyes meeting Danny's.

'Tucker,' Danny thought. His eyes moved to a pair of green ones: Zoey. Somehow Danny got the message that she knew about him. He nodded slightly to show her she was right. Her eyes moved to Ben and then to Danny. They were sad. He knew why. Something in Zoey's eyes told him that it was close to impossible to get her back. But close wasn't impossible and he knew that he could do it. He didn't care that she was married. She was Sam and she was his. He gathered what strength he could and lifted her feet off the ground. Her head hung backward and he walked carefully to the porch.

Once he closed the door, he leaned her against it and stared at her. She looked different. Her hair was longer and her skin was darker. Maybe she had spent a lot of time in the sun. He almost burst into laughter as he noticed she had on pink and pumps. He was used to black with combat boots.

"Sam," he whispered, tasting her name. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at Danny. He couldn't control himself then and he pressed his lips to hers passionately, making up for the past 7 years. Sam didn't resist. At that moment she forgot about Ben. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. She was so glad that he was here because she had missed him. She felt something pulling her away from Danny and she remembered Benjamin. She turned away from him. His eyes opened and he looked at her.

"Sam…" he said.

"'m sorry, Danny, but I'm married," Sam said.

"Why?" He asked, almost sounding upset.

"Because you told me to!" She said, looking him in his eyes. She started crying and collapsed into Danny's chest. He hugged her as she cried and he felt ready to cry also.

"How could you, Danny? How could you Danny? How could you leave me alone to do this? That should have been you, Danny. You know I love you. I do. I do. I do. I do love you, Danny," she said, "I've missed you. I have so much to tell you." He stroked her hair and rocked her gently.

"I've missed you, too, Sam. It hurts being away from you. And the pain gets worse everyday. This is just so weird, saying for the past few years. I love you, Sam," he said. The door opened behind them and Tucker stared out at them. She pulled herself from Danny and focused her eyes on something else.

"Danny," Tucker simply said. Danny smiled and the two men embraced.

"Everyone inside was kind of wondering what was happening out here. Shaire is even crying," Tuck said. Sam looked up at Danny then at Tucker quickly before she rushed inside. The two men stood outside in silence for a minute before Tucker broke it.

"So, what do you plan to do? You know she's married," Tucker said, obviously on Danny's side.

"It can't be too hard, can it Tuck? I mean she's miserable," Danny said.

"Did she tell you because she wouldn't tell m" Tucker said.

"Tuck, its Sam…in pink. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that something is going on," Danny said.

"Hey, you trying to diss me?" Tucker asked, good-naturedly.

"Umm…maybe," Danny smiled. Tucker let out a short laugh and punched Danny playfully on the shoulder.

"Let's go inside," Tuck suggested.

"Yeah, I agree. I'm starving, I need to eat," Danny said. They laughed together as they entered the house. Danny was escorted to the table and he sat beside Ben and an empty seat.

'Sam,' resounded in his head. His heart hurt like fire and just seeing her after all these years drove him insane. Everyone else sat in their seats. Zoey seemed a bit too excited as her eyes constantly trailed from Danny to the kitchen, where Sam was.

'Does everyone in this house know what's going on except Ben?' Danny questioned himself. Ben was chatting away and brightly smiling at Danny. Shaire's eyes were red but he had stopped crying. Tucker sat beside Shaire on the other side of the table. Sam brought out the food and set it on the table. It looked delicious.

'Wow, she cooks!' Danny thought as he admired how her body moved.

"This dinner looks like it's going to be a delectable one. Quite delicious I can tell," he said. Sam glanced at him then sat in her seat. She had made fried chicken, white rice, macaroni and cheese, a salad and a jug of Kool-Aid.

"Let's pray," Tuck said before anyone could dig in. Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes for the short prayer.

"Amen," Tuck said and the chatting began. Danny glanced at Sam. She kept looking at Shaire with this unreadable expression on her face. It piqued his curiosity. However, in her eyes he could see worry and he wished that he could do something about it. His hand found its way to her leg. She let out a small scream and jumped slightly. Everyone's attention turned to her. Silence.

"Umm…are you ok?" Zoey asked, one hand on her fork picking at her food before eating it and the other propping up her head.

"Yeah, fine. Just a little problem with my umm…my skirt," she smiled sheepishly and settled back down in her seat. Her hand covered Danny's and she squeezed it. He turned to her and she to him and they shared a secret look that lasted for a second. No one saw and no one would ever know of it, but in that second, Danny knew that Sam would be his, no matter what.

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this Christmas chapter of Love Me. I have a confession to make. I actually had this written since September, but just got to typing it. I'm sorry, ok, but it's a good gift. *smiles sheepishly* Review! Please! Give me something for Christmas…since I got nothing…yet.**


	5. Valentine Surprise

**I'M BACKKKKKKK!! I bet you all thought I was dead or something? Well, thank God I'm not!!! My exams are finally over and I have now graduated!!! YEAAAAAA!!!! LOL! I wrote this chapter in umm…February, but I truthfully didn't have time to type it, so now that I have gotten my summer holiday I am on a writing spree!!! No one can stop me! Muahahahahahaha!!!!!**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed! Sorry that I can't mention you by name now. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!!!**

**Chapter 5: Valentine Surprise**

**Disclaimer: I have done my CSEC exams but none of them involved creating Danny Phantom so…I guess I don't own it. **

Sam's eyes flew open as a picture of Danny flashed through her mind. She sat up in bed and looked at Benjamin. He was asleep. Judging from the look on his face, he had slept well for the whole night and still was sleeping well…unlike Sam. She flung the sheet from off her and stepped into her bedroom slippers. She would go and check on her children, and then she would start her daily chores.

As she stepped outside, she practically ran over Zoey, who seemed to be heading into her parents' room.

"Hey Sam! Gooooood morning!" She chirped. Sam cocked a brow.

"Why are you so happy?" Sam asked.

"Duh, cause its Valentine's Day! What, you didn't remember?" Zoey asked. Sam shook her head 'no' as she stared at Zoey in surprise. Sam hated Valentine's Day. Every year, on February the 14th, she would daydream of that special one she lost, telling her how much he loved her. She wanted to curl up beside him with his strong arms holding her close to his warmness. She closed her eyes and told herself, reluctantly, that it would never happen.

"Hey, don't be sad, mom. Today will be great, trust me," Zoey said, giving Sam a hug.

"Thanks Zoey," Sam said, returning the hug, yet not believing what her daughter had said.

"Oh, Samantha, you're awake," the sleepy voice of Benjamin said from the doorway. Sam released Zoey and put a plastic smile on her face.

"Good morning honey! You do know what today is, right? She asked feeling disgusted with herself.

"Yeah, today is Saturday and I just got a call from Martin telling me they were having an urgent meeting down at the firm, so I'm just going to take a quick shower and leave," he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Oh," Sam said, relief running through her. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He didn't even remember. He closed the door behind him and Zoey spoke in utter disgust.

"Bastard!"

"Language," Sam said, still staring at the door.

"But he is, Sam! Anyway, forget him! Shaire, you and I can go somewhere and have a little fun," Zoey said, doing a little dance.

"Is Shaire awake yet," Sam asked, her eyes switching to look at Zoey.

"He's asleep. The first thing I did this morning was look at him. He's just so adorable," Zoey said. Sam smiled despite her messed up emotions. She felt proud of herself as a mother. Shaire was her special, most important gift ever. She indeed loved him more than life itself.

"So, where do you wanna go? I was thinking about going to that Valentines' Day Fair down by the private park. It's just $200 for one person to enter and I know money is not a big deal…but we do have to pay for the rides and food…but it would be fun!" Zoey said. Sam looked at her excited face and immediately drew a conclusion.

"Don't let me spoil your day with whomever you're going out with." Zoey immediately blushed 10 shades of red.

"Wha..wha…what made you think that?" She tried to play it off. Sam smiled and tilted Zoey's downcast face up to hers.

"I know you're young and I don't expect you to do stupid things if you thought I would be against your relationship with this unknown boy. I want us to have an open relationship and I can't say I'm not a little hurt, but I have to put it behind me. You can go, by yourself but you have to stick to your curfew, ok? And one day you can bring him home so that I can meet him," Sam smiled. Zoey smiled also and hugged her mother tightly.

"Thank you soooo much mom!" She said.

"Ok! Ok! You're welcome! Go on and get ready!"

"I love you!" Zoey said and raced off to her room. Sam's smile slowly faded. Oh how quickly they grew up. She found herself a few minutes later in Shaire's room. She gazed in at him, his childish innocence unmistakeable.

"Well, it's just me and you today Shai. My little man," she muttered to herself. He stirred and mumbled a few incoherent words. She walked over to sit beside him on his bed, silently. She brushed his messy hair out of his eyes and the next thing she knew, a pair of violet-blue eyes were staring up at her.

"Hey honey. Did you sleep well?" She asked. He smiled and nodded his head sleepily.

"Good. Mommy's gonna go fix you some breakfast then we can have some fun," Sam said and got up to walk out. At the door she stopped and looked behind only to see him climbing out of bed.

"Mommy, can I come with you?" He asked as he stood at his bed side looking cute in his Spiderman Pjs. She couldn't help but smile brightly.

"Come on kid," she said. He quickly came to her side and she scooped him up into her arms.

"Gosh, you're heavy," she said, barely managing to close the door behind her as she headed downstairs.

"I'm 7. What did ya expect? I'm hardly a child anymore," he said, hugging her tightly.

"That's true and I guess my inexperience with children contribute to it too. Truthfully, I'm not good at holding children," she admitted with a short laugh.

"Is that what happens when you get old?"

"I am not old!"

"You are too!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are," Shaire put up his fight and so it went on playfully between mother and son. Soon they were in the kitchen cooking up a delicious breakfast.

"This is too cool," Zoey said upon entering the kitchen five minutes later. Her eyes roamed the room: ceilings, walls and floors, taking in the spectacle that was mess. Her eyes landed on Shaire who was behind Sam, licking something gooey from off the stove.

"You like?" Sam asked, covered in mess herself.

"Shaire! Stop that!" Zoey yelled. The little boy jumped in shock and turned wide eyed to Zoey. Sam turned to look at what he had been doing.

"He was licking the stove," Zoey pointed out as she tried looking for food that was not on the wall. She did find some in a plate, reserved for her she was guessing. She grabbed up her sandwich and kissed Sam on the cheek.

"Bad boy, Shaire. Don't do that again," Sam said as Zoey kissed her.

"I'm leaving now," Zoey said, heading for the door.

"Do you want me to drop you off?" Sam asked, stopping Zoey in her tracks.

"But it tastes good," Shaire said.

"Naw, I'm good. I made prior arrangements," Zoey said, hand on the doorknob.

"I would like to know how you're getting there, if you don't mind," Sam said. Shaire continued to lick the sweet goo from the stove. Sam pulled him away, not wanting him to get hurt or sick.

"Gone!" Zoey yelled unnecessarily and left. The door slammed behind her.

"Wait!' Sam said, holding onto Shaire's hand to hold him back from the stove, but Zoey was of course gone and not coming back. She sighed and picked up the cordless phone perched on the wall. She dialed Zoey's number.

"Don't lick the stove again, Shaire! It's dangerous. You'll get burned or…oh…how are you getting there? I need to know," Sam said. Zoey had picked up in the middle of her speech to Shaire.

"I just left, mom. I'm barely out the door!" Zoey replied.

"Obviously Zoey, but you still haven't told me who's bringing you. You're avoiding the question. Is it that…boy? Wait, I don't even know his name! I need information here!"

"Then what should I eat? I'm hungry," Shaire said, tugging at Sam's hand.

"Can't you be Sam now and not mom?"

"Stop acting like a spoiled child. You'll get something to eat if you wait," Sam said to Shaire.

"What?" Zoey asked.

"I'm not talking to you, it was Shaire, still intent on licking the stove," Sam said, fighting to equally divide her attention. Zoey sighed.

"Fine, since you have to know, I'm going with Uncle Tucker. He said he would bring me."

"Then why didn't you tell me? It's just Tucker."

"I…I…I don't know. I just wanted to feel in charge I guess. After all, I'm almost 15. I have to learn to take care of myself," she said.

"You're still young, you have plenty of time to grow up and become independent. For now, I would appreciate you behaving responsibly. By that I mean telling me where you're going and with whom you're going with. So I don't die of worry."

"Could you hurry up," Shaire demanded.

"I'm sorry," Zoey offered an apology.

"It's okay now that we have everything sorted out. Have fun and keep safe," Sam said to Zoey.

"Bye," Zoey said and hung up. Sam replaced the phone on the wall and turned to the impatient little one.

"I think you need just a little bit more of that thing called patience," she said.

"But I'm hungry," he said angrily, folding his arms and sticking out his lips in a pout. Sam folded her arms also and stared down at Shaire in a way that said "I am the adult here". Shaire's arms loosened and they fell to his side.

"I'm sorry for being unpatient," he said, sulkily.

"It's a lesson learned today and your food has been right on the table all along. FYI, it's impatient," Sam said, pointing at the table and thinking how she had become a mother at such an early age. She didn't know how to handle him, a 7 year old. He seemed to be in deep concentration as he pulled his sticky self onto one of the chairs.

"Impatient," he repeated. Sam smiled. She had to admit though, he was sweet, even if his manners needed a bit more tuning. Her smile fell as she wondered how he had felt having to wait 7 years for his "parents" to come back for him as they had promised. He must have spent countless nights crying in anguish, tired of waiting and wanting his mother. She almost cried as her heart almost burst. She had him now and that was all that mattered.

She rubbed the bleariness from her eyes and leaned back on the counter. Ben chose to walk into the room at that moment. Sam was caught off guard and for a moment, all she could do was stare. Ben looked GOOD! He actually brought off the Justin Timberlake look. He wore a dazzling white T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans with a light brown jacket. His T-shirt was tucked into his pants, held tightly by his belt adorned with a reasonably sized buckle. It hugged his contours perfectly, not too tight, not too loose, only perfect. His chestnut hair was slightly disheveled and Sam could smell his cologne from all the way across the room. It was heavenly. It was a different look from the neat man he was.

He stopped two seconds upon entering. His jaw fell and his eyes darted about the room. Sam pushed herself from off the counter.

"Benja.." She began.

"What the hell is this?" He yelled. Sam reeled backwards at the intensity of his voice.

"Bring your food upstairs and watch some TV," she said to Shaire. The boy glanced between the enraged Benjamin and the narrow eyed Samantha.

"Now this you don't need to tell me twice," he whispered to her and in the blink of an eye, one could hear his tiny feet jogging up the stairs. Benjamin stepped over the many food items in the room, slowly advancing toward Sam. She merely kicked them aside or stepped on them as she too advanced toward the angry man of the house. She was more than prepared to argue with him. She knew he would blame Shaire for it, especially since he did not fully agree with her taking on another "adopted" child.

"There is no need to raise your voice, Benjamin, especially when th…" Sam started. She didn't get very far for Benjamin's hand had connected with her face. She took two steps back in shock. Now this, she was not prepared for. He stepped up to her, eyes dark with warning.

"Don't let me get back here and see this kitchen like this, Samantha! For you know what I can do to those things you call children! I could send them back or to somewhere worse and you'll never be able to see another child around my house, unless they rightfully belong to me!" He shouted, thrusting a threatening finger at Sam. He did not wait for her to respond, he didn't expect her to answer either. She was his woman, he owned her. He stepped past her and all of her mess and in a few seconds he had left the house. Sam could hear the engine of his car start and she wished that a bomb would blow him up, but it was far-fetched and she realized it.

She stood in her spot for two minutes, trying to figure out if what she thought had happened, but never imagined would happen, had actually happened.

"I can't believe the bitch hit me. It is not ending like this," she murmured. She glared at the door through which he had left wanting him to walk back in so that she could stab him, right in the heart.

'You wanna play rough? I know just how to do that,' she thought. She pushed past the mess and went upstairs. She would take a shower to calm down then she would let Shaire take one.

She flung off her bed slippers and dropped her pants. In one fluid motion, her blouse had joined the collection of clothes on the floor. She went to the bedside table to take out a small face towel from the top and only drawer. She saw a picture of her and Ben together. They were smiling. She took it up and flung it across the room. There was a crash. The picture had collided with the full length mirror behind the door. The mirror was shattered into tiny unimportant shards, the picture and its frame somewhere in the mess. She didn't care.

She slammed the bathroom door behind her and easily took off her underwear. She let her hair down and stepped into the tub, turning on the hot water, full blast. She let out a scream and let the water beat down on her. She felt something on her back. She tensed, a bit afraid. It was soft and was caressing her skin, all over her body. She closed her eyes as she relaxed into the tender invisible being. Hands. Hands were on her body. Invisible hands. Chills ran up her spine at the change of temperature and she smiled, eyes still closed. She felt lips on her shoulder. They were familiar kisses. She knew what was going on.

"Danny," she whispered softly. A body appeared behind her. Hard and familiar and naked, just like hers.

"Hey," he said, kissing her neck and nibbling on it. She turned to face him. He crushed her to his body and kissed her deeply and passionately, unsaid words being shared in the exchange. She could feel every inch of him and he could feel every curve of her body. He didn't want to stop kissing her, but she turned her head away. He noticed her reluctance.

"I'm married," she whispered, pain evident in her voice.

"You don't want to be, so right now, to me you're not," he continued, still holding her body to his. She closed her eyes. There was something correct with them, it was there between them. The need, no, the knowledge that they belonged together.

"I can't," she said opening her eyes. Her protesting stopped right there as Danny totally ignored her and pressed his lips so naturally to hers. She had wanted this for such a long time and now that it was happening, after 7 years, she wasn't going to let it go. She melted into him feeling as if their bodies were one. She wrapped her hands around his neck, bringing his face closer to hers if it was possible. They withdrew and she stared into his baby blue orbs that she loved so very much. She examined his face, trying to believe that he was really in front of her. He caressed her soft cheek and pushed her hair back.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she answered.

1 HOUR LATER

Sam lay on her naked stomach, head turned to look at the spot where the picture of her and her husband had once been. Danny's head was on her back, the sheet covering them.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she said although on the inside she was light and without a worry. It had been great being with him. She wished that she could always be with him.

"But it did and I have no regrets," he said. Sam turned over on her back, disrupting Danny's head.

"Me either," she smiled at him. He took to resting his head on her stomach. Sam stroked his head, unused to his long hair.

"You plan on telling me about prison?" She asked. It was a pretty straight forward question.

"Well…" he began. He lifted his head from her stomach and looked at her, using his elbows to support his body. He looked like a man one always wanted yet could somehow never get. Simply put, he was hot.

"Well what?" She urged him, sitting up and bringing the sheet with her. He watched her and Sam felt as if he was looking right through the sheet.

"It was a whole new unexplored world to me. I knew no one and it was frightening to know that you weren't safe anywhere. You could walk around a corner and have someone offer you an apple. The next corner you walk round, someone may K.O. you. It was tough. I actually had to fight, really hurt a few people to get some respect in there. I don't know how I did it," he said, his face showing a far off look. One that was filled with pain.

"You did it, and that's all that matters to me now. I…I…I am glad. Absolutely overjoyed that you're here now. But, I thought you got many years…many, many years," Sam said, swallowing the bump in her throat.

"I was coming to that. They've dismissed the case, apologizing to me and making me a free man. It seems that it takes 7 years for everyone to find out that I could have acted out of self defense. It also takes 7 years to figure read my lips."

"Read your lips? What?" Sam asked, confused.

"In the video, I was screaming something at Vlad before I 'killed him'. Recently, they were looking at the video again and voila, they realized they had arrested an innocent man and I had killed the real criminal, though not in the way they thought I did." Danny smiled. Sam placed all her weight on the headboard and wondered whether she should be angry, disgusted or relieved. They had stolen her life from her.

"Those idiots! They were too busy looking for someone to throw behind bars that they couldn't even give you a proper trial!"

"Sam, forget it. It's happened and we can't go back 7 years. I've forgiven them, especially since they gave me my life back, job and all. Just, let it go. Please," he said. Sam bit her lower lip. Something popped into her mind. A nagging thought. One she had been thinking about for the past 7 years, a few months after Danny had been arrested. She decided to tell him about him, storing the newly heard news somewhere precious. She would never forget.

"Danny," she said, a tad hesitant.

"Yes, Sam," he said. She shivered at the way he had called her name. It was delightful.

"I have something very important to tell you and it involves…it involves…" she began. Danny met her eyes, already knowing what she was going to tell him.

"It involves Shaire. He's my son, isn't he."

**I have taken up the task of reading The Other Boleyn Girl and I have to say I really like it. I was thinking about it through most of this chapter. Please, read and review and forgive me for taking so long with it. The next chapter will be out really soon I hope. It's written, I just need to type it.**


	6. The 7 Year Old Secret

**Wow, I was blown away by the reviews I received for my last chapter. I feel truly grateful to you all: my reviewers and even those who didn't review. Thanks for letting me feel your love guys. And since you all showed me love by reviewing, I am gonna show a whole lot by putting this up earlier than I told you I would. ENJOY!! **

**Thanks to the following reviewers: Extant, Magma823, dino, Flaming Water, Mo mo, RenesmeeScarlet, Devilchild93, Magic713, ShortSweet'NToThePoint and bloodmoon13!! And if your name isn't here, but you reviewed, I am sooooooooooooo sorry!!**

**Chapter 6: The 7 Year Old Secret**

**Disclaimer: I do not, never will, but wish I owned Danny Phantom**

It was more of a statement than a question. More fact than uncertainty. It had Sam looking at him, eyes wide and mouth agape, totally speechless. She blinked back the tears and her lips trembled. Danny moved closer to her and kissed her trembling lips gently. When he pulled back, she noticed that he too had tears in his eyes. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes as if they were itching her and nothing else. A tear fell from his eye and she noticed that he had suffered a lot from not being able to see his son. She was the lucky one. She pulled him into her arms and he cried. She remained tearless.

"How long have you known?" She asked softly as he calmed down. He pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes, his own eyes red.

"A couple of years," he said, looking away.

"How?" She almost choked on the word.

"I snuck out some nights and I came to look at you. It wasn't hard to see that you were pregnant."

"Why?" She asked, only one word, one syllable. Danny didn't like how it sounded.

"Why? Why what?"

"Why did you come to look for me and never tell me? If you had, we wouldn't have been here now. I wouldn't have been married to the most hateful man I know!"

"We've been through this already, Sam. Don't let it happen again. Please." Sam rolled off the bed and pulled on her robe. She spun around and glared down at Danny.

"I'm going to check on Shaire. I'll be back," she said sternly. She turned and walked away.

"Sam," he called after her. She ignored him. He sighed and leaned back on the fluffy pillows. Were they fighting? Why were they fighting?

Sam came upon Shaire's door; she could hear the cartoons he was watching. She opened it. She smiled immediately, masking her true emotion. He was covered in food, lying on his stomach on his carpet watching TV, just as she had told him. His eyes flickered over to her and he grinned. He sprang up from the carpet.

"Took you long enough," he said as he looked up into her smiling face.

"Aren't you the patient one," she said, "now, hop out of those clothes and into the bathtub and I'll go get some bubble bath."

"That's for little kids."

"Aren't you a little kid?" She asked. He paused. He nodded slowly.

"Good, I'm going to get the bubble bath then," she said and turned to leave.

"Mommy," he said hesitantly. She turned to him, hand on knob.

"Yes Shaire," she answered.

"Ben…is he gone? Are you…are you…ok?" He asked. Sam blushed as she realized that he was no idiot, he knew that things were off between her and Ben, he possibly knew that he had hit her.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" She asked, smile intact, afraid of what he would say.

"I was just asking because…because he hit you," Shaire said, giving her two very concerned eyes that screamed Danny.

"I'm ok, Shaire. It was nothing," she said, trying to get his little mind off of it.

"It is something!" He stepped forward, raising his voice in anger, "he can't hit you like that. You did nothing wrong, we did nothing wrong! You're not supposed to hit women! Didn't his mother teach him that?" Shaire exclaimed. His chest rose and fell angrily. Sam walked over to him and lifted him into her arms.

"Don't worry for mommy, ok honey. I can handle this and I refuse to live with nonsense. I love you, and I will do everything to keep you. He won't get in the way, husband or not," she said reassuringly to him.

"Let him go away, please mommy. Let him go away," he said into her shoulder as he clasped his hands around her neck.

"I will. Now go and get ready for your bath. I'll be back soon," she said, putting him down. His eyes were red, he wanted to cry, so did Sam. And she knew she would cry, after all she still had Danny to argue with. He turned away from her and pulled off his top. Sam left, knowing that today she and her lover would not part sweetly.

As she walked back to her room, currently occupied by Daniel Fenton, she was confused. What was going on? Feelings were never so difficult for her to deal with. Her feelings had never been so complicated. She was torn between Ben and Danny and it was so obvious who her choice should be, but Ben had more advantages than Danny. He had money. Money did not matter much to her, but it mattered to her two children. She had already accepted that she would have to sacrifice everything for them and she had prepared herself for it, but she wasn't ready for a sudden appearance from D. Fenton. She shook her head. She would have to forget him, send him out of her bed, out of her house and out of her life. Even as she made the decision, she was wondering if it was the correct one.

Danny was already dressed when she entered the room. He wasted no time in talking.

"I think its best that I leave now," he said. She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped. She refused to betray her decision. How dare she think about telling him that she didn't want him to leave? And so soon after deciding that she didn't want him in her life! Danny looked around. No picture of Sam and Ben. Glass was on the floor. How could he tell her that he didn't want to go? They stood for a few seconds, debating mentally what they should do.

"Umm, could we not do this?" Danny asked.

"Do what?" Sam snapped. He blinked unexpectedly at her reply.

"Fight. We can solve this. You don't have to kill yourself so that Shaire and Zoey can be happy. Ben's money isn't the glue that holds your life together. It's not an advantage he has over me," Danny said. Sam gasped. It was as if he was reading her mind.

"Kinda hard not to fight after I cheated on my husband."

"Why did you have to say that, Sam? Don't you think we both know that?"

"Doesn't stop it from being wrong!"

"I know that! You know that! And you also know that I don't care and that I won't stop! Not until you're mine, forever!"

"Could you stop referring to me as chattel? I have two children to think about Danny! Leaving Benjamin at this point in time would not go well with their lives and what I want them to make of it!"

"You're forgetting that one of those children belong to me! Don't you think I care about Shaire too! I want what's best for him too!"

"Then stop trying to take me away! I can't do it! I can't be selfish! I don't care about myself! Only my children!"

"When did you get so weak? I don't understand. I've always known you as a fighter. As an independent woman. Someone who wasn't afraid to stand against anyone just to prove and to defend what she thought was right. Now, you're different. You're not the Sam I feel in love with," Danny said softly. It was a blow to Sam. It hit her straight in the heart.

"You're right, I've changed. I've learnt that sometimes, to get what you want, to show everybody that you're right, that you're a strong person, you have to put aside what matters to you. Put aside silly dreams and silly thoughts and pursue what you want, silently and carefully. Slowly too. I would have thought you would have understood strategy, don't you fight ghosts, or at least used to?" Sam also lowered her voice. He would not win.

"You disgust me," he said. It was the dirtiest look he had ever given her and tears immediately rose to her eyes. It was impossible to build defenses against him, he was her softest spot.

"Get out of my house you selfish halfa," she growled.

"It's not even yours," he said, giving her a sarcastic grin. He disappeared. A harsh breeze rushed past her and through the window, almost tearing up the panes and dragging the windows themselves with it. Sam took several deep breaths, but she could not suppress her sobs. That was the meanest thing he had ever said to her since they had known each other and it hurt. It hurt her to know that the man she loved was treating her so badly. She fell onto the bed in a messy lump. She pushed back her tears and soon she lay on her bed, eyes red but dry, feeling alone in the world, numb to her feelings.

"Mommy, who were you talking to? And what did they say to get you so upset?" A small voice asked. Sam turned around to see the door open and Shaire poke his head through it, looking at her intently.

"I was…um…talking to Ben on the phone. We had, we had an argument," she lied.

"Benjamin," he said, staring at the picture of his mommy and Benjamin on the ground among the broken shards of dangerous glass. The air was filled with silence until Sam thought she was suffocating. Had he seen through her lies? She already knew that he was a smart kid, had he been able to tell that she was lying. Shaire looked up at her, a shocking look of total understanding on his face, then it seemed he was feeling great emotional pain. Sam inhaled sharply at the sight of her son's face.

"Did you get the bubbly bath? I think I might actually like it," he smiled. She exhaled at the sudden sweetness of his voice. His face was completely angelic, not a trace that the world's hideousness and corruption had touched him, yet that look remained in Sam's mind and she knew something was going on that she did not know about.

"Oh, sorry, I'll go get it," she smiled quickly. She was good at switching moods or better yet, hiding her real emotions. She quickly walked into her bathroom and found it, staring blue and thick into her face from the face basin. She went back into her room and saw Shaire feverishly picking up the broken glass with one hand, clutching the towel around his body with the other.

"No I should do that. You might hurt yourself," she said advancing toward him.

"That's ok mommy. I want to help you," he said. She smiled on the inside. She had had an angel with a ghost.

"I really shouldn't let you do it and I won't," she said. Simultaneously, Shaire cried out in pain as he dropped the pieces of glass he had held in his hand. A few drops of blood followed, landing on a piece of mirror. The blood started pumping in Sam's head and she rushed over to him to assess the damage. He stood, hand closed staring at his fist. She gently touched his hand and he looked up at her. He wasn't crying, she could not understand. She opened his fist, winching at the sight of blood. The glass had forged a gorge in the middle of his palm and Sam choked back the tears and nausea as she drew him to the bathroom.

She turned on the tap and pushed his hand under it, washing all the blood away. A lot of blood.

"Do you feel dizzy? Does it hurt? Badly?" She asked, looking at him.

"No, I'm fine. This isn't the first time this has happened. I heal fast," he said, trying to pull his hand away from her. She refused to let it go. She raised an eyebrow and looked closely at him. He seemed terrified now but not because of his wound, but because of how Sam looked at him. He tried pulling his fist away but she held firm. What was he hiding from her? She looked at his hand and gasped. It was glowing! It glowed green and she watched as the skin slowly fitted itself back together. It bonded, sterilized and healed until nothing was left of the wound, not even the littlest scar. She licked her lips unconsciously and turned to him. He looked like a mother deer, carrying her children in her stomach caught in the headlights of a monster truck. She let go of his hand. He pulled it to himself, holding it close to his chest.

"I should have known," she said. She stooped down to his level and he shied away. She reached her hands out to him and hugged him. She brought him closer to her and she kissed him on his lips in happiness.

"It's not going to umm…hurt again. I know for sure," he said in a tiny voice.

"When did you find this out?" She asked.

"Well, when you're a boy turning into a man, you fall a lot. I can't tell when though, I've had it for a long time, till I can't remember when," he said, growing in confidence as he realized that Sam had accepted him with his strange talent. Sam smiled and kissed him once again, pulling him close to her body.

"So I'm guessing you're ready for your bath," she said when she drew away.

"Took you long enough," he grinned, "but first we need to clean this up."

'Of course,' Sam thought, 'a ghost.'

A FEW HOURS LATER

Benjamin pulled into the long winding driveway, the gates behind him closing. His hair was ruffled, his clothes messy and he was as tired as a man who had done what he had done that day should have been. It had been a long and exciting day. Martin was a very creative man. He parked his car and stepped out, double locking the door.

The first thing he noticed upon entering the kitchen was that it was spic, span and licked from roof to walls to floor. He smiled. She had been working. He took a walk through his house, enjoying the wealth it showed. With great satisfaction, he started up the stairs.

Sam could hear his footsteps riding the stairs. She kissed Shaire on the forehead one more time and watched him shuffle in his sleep before she exited the room, closing the door softly behind her. It was almost 11 pm. She saw Ben standing at the door to their room. Inside their room was just how he had left it with the only picture of them as a couple on the night table.

"Benjamin," Sam began. He turned his head to her, a bright smile adorning his features.

"Samantha! You look mighty splendid this evening. Is dinner ready?" He asked. She raised narrow eyes at him and slowly stepped forward in her pink heels, skirt slightly bouncing off her legs and her hair swaying with her movements. It was highly hypnotic, seductive and yet menacing. Ben surveyed her body, his eyes undressing her and having sex with her right there, yet he felt nervous and threatened by her very presence. The atmosphere was not right.

"I don't appreciate what you did earlier Benjamin," she said, saying his name as if it were a curse, "I've never been one to take orders and commands or allow anyone to rule my life. But I've changed. I've changed for those two kids I have now. The same two kids you threatened to take away. I'm doing what's good for them and if what I'm doing is not working, then I will have to switch to plan B," she said. She was tired of saying this. She was tired of reminding herself of the pain she felt every day. She stopped directly in front of him. He stepped back, reflexively. He stood at the very edge of the staircase.

"Understood?" She whispered. He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and pushed out a hip.

"I'm a rather comprehensive person, Samantha, not to mention how highly educated I am. And what is this talk about a plan B?" he said. Sam smiled, sadistically.

"Are you sure you want to know, Benny?" She asked.

"Then why am I asking? Are you an idiot or something? Yes, I wish to know!" He spoke to her as a king might have spoken to a peasant, "and never call me 'Benny' again."

"That's the best thing I have ever heard you say since we've been married. Goodbye Benjamin," she said.

"What's the goodbye for? I'm not leaving," he stood firmly. Sam laughed loudly, pleasantly evil.

"Goodbye Ben," she said and Benjamin felt himself falling. Head over heels, heels over head until his head stuck the very bottom of the stairs and he blacked out. Sam's eyes were still narrow and her sadistic smile was now a thin line of hate.

**AT THE HOSPITAL**

Sam sat in the waiting room, Shaire asleep in her arms and Zoey sitting beside her, iPod in ears looking very bored. Tucker sat on Sam's other side, a hand around his best friend's shoulder. Shaire sighed and opened his eyes to look around.

"Are we still in the hospitil?" He asked.

"Yes honey, we're at the hospital," she said, placing barely noticeable emphasis on the word hospital.

"Hospital," he repeated, he had caught on.

"I think you should go check on him," Tucker said. Sam, of course, had told him everything. He was trying to let her seem innocent, he was ready to put down his life to lie for her, after all, Ben was a lawyer.

"Sure. Here, take your nephew," she said, giving the heavy Shaire to Tucker. Shaire made himself comfy on Tucker's lap as Sam stood up and stretched. As if waiting for her to stand so that she could run into him, Danny appeared from out of nowhere. Sam was frightened but managed not to jump out of her skin. They stared at each other for a long time, the memory of their earlier fight coming back to them.

"How'd you manage with this big giant of a kid on your lap for the last hour? He's 7! Don't you think he should sit on his own seat?" Tucker teased.

"How did you know?" She asked. Zoey glanced up and slowly pulled her earphones from her ears, eavesdropping on their conversation. Tucker heard her question and looked up.

"Tucker called," Danny simply answered. Sam half-turned to Tucker. He gazed back innocently at them. When she told Tucker everything, she had told him everything, including what had happened between her and Danny. She straightened herself and brushed past Danny.

"You really shouldn't have said that to her," Tucker said.

"I was angry, I couldn't control it," Danny said and sat in Sam's seat.

"You really shouldn't have said that to her," Tucker repeated.

"Daddy," Shaire said, immediately sitting up. Danny raised an eyebrow and looked at Tucker.

"He's all yours…daddy," he said added, handing Shaire to Danny. Tucker was truly amazed at how perceptive the child was. Danny took him and Shaire started chattering. Danny smiled at Zoey and she grinned at him before plugging in her earphones. For a moment she felt as if she didn't belong.

Sam entered Ben's room and saw him lying there, helpless and barely conscious.

"You," he croaked.

"Hey sweetheart," she said sarcastically. Taking a seat beside him. She grabbed one of his hands and leaned forward.

"You bitch," he croaked again.

"Oh, you asshole. Did you seriously think you could get away with slapping me and threatening my kids?" She spoke softly and lovingly. She laughed, low and dangerous.

"No, you couldn't and you never can, because the next time you pull a stunt like that again…I'll kill you. Now, get better for Samantha and come back home so we can start over again," she finished. She pulled back and gave him a fake smile which said, 'I'm gonna kill you anyway you take it'. His eyes narrowed and Sam kissed his cheek. She walked out without looking behind her. Her smile went back to the thin line of hate. What she had told him was serious and she wouldn't hesitate to do it.

**Dun, dun, dun!!! Sam gets serious! And the story heats up! And look at it, it's just the 6****th**** chapter! What does crazy Toyoko have next? What twist will she let loose from her sleeve next, her very big sleeve. ROTFLOL!! Don't expect Ben back for a while and I'll see what I can do with this story. Read and Review, ok! Tell me what you think! Flames are welcome too!!**


	7. What's Good For You May Be What's Best

**Welcome to chapter 7! I would have finished this chapter a long time ago if a certain saga hadn't popped up. But won't you say I'm moving at a wonderful speed? I wasn't so happy about the review turn-out for the last chapter but, hey, I now have 50 reviews!**

**Thanks to the following reviewers: that 1 flower girl, bloodmoon13,magma823, ShortSweet'NToThePoint, Alexia Moonlight.**

**Chapter 7: What's Good for You May Be What's Best**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, ok! Do you have any idea how many nights I sit up wondering…WHY!!!?? Why can't I own Danny? Lol! Read on!**

**2 DAYS LATER: MONDAY**

The doorbell rang and Sam quizzically raised an eyebrow at the sound. Who could it possibly be? Why hadn't the intercom being used? She silently crept down the stairs, her combat boots making no sound as she headed for the door. She tipped and peered through the little peep hole, a one way mirror. Her heartbeat doubled as she saw the familiar person. Long black hair caught in a ponytail, pale skin and ice blue eyes looking directly at her. She stood, flat-footed, wondering if she should open the door and let him in or open the door then slam it in his face.

'Sam, I know you're there, answer the door,' his voice said in her head. She freaked. What was he doing in her head? Without another thought, she unlocked the door and swung it open, amethyst connecting with icy blue.

"Oh…umm…hi," he said, hands in pocket.

"And bye," Sam drew it out as she slammed the door, right in his face. She barely got to smile before he walked right through the door.

"Really unfair," she mumbled.

"All you have to do is listen to me, please. I'm not here to fight with you anymore," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged him off and stepped back, folding her arms. His hands didn't stay idle. One moved to the back of his head, scratching it, the other returning to his pocket.

"So," Sam said brusquely, "spill it. What the hell are you doing here? You didn't even use the intercom." Sam's voice was surprisingly calm, or at least not as sharp as he had expected.

"Face it, Sam. If I had used the intercom, you'd never let me in so I decided not…to use it," he finished poorly.

"I didn't let you in, Danny. You walked right through my door," she said, almost grinding her teeth with the need to restrain herself.

"Ok, so you didn't actually let me in, but you're listening to me now, aren't you? I'm sure that if I had used the intercom you would have ignored me and then I would still come, right through your door…again, and then you would have been even more upset," he explained, grabbing at straws.

"How wrong you are Daniel Fenton. I am even angrier now than I would have been if you had done the correct thing! I am absolutely furious!" She yelled under her breath, trying not to alert her children.

"Then I guess I thought about it wrong," he said apologetically.

"You guess you thought wrong? You guess? You are wrong! How dare you barge onto _Ben's_ property without a heads up? You do know I have children here, right?" She flung her words at him in almost silent fury. He heard the emphasis on 'Ben' and he knew he wasn't getting off easy. He couldn't blame her for that.

"Yes," he said, nodding to reinforce it.

"And you do know that I'm responsible for their safety, right?" He nodded again, unable to mutter a yes.

"Then you have no excuse to have not used the intercom, "she finished up, he hoped, harshly. He opened his mouth to say something, to defend himself, but nothing came out. He knew why. He couldn't defend himself when he knew that what he had done was wrong. Sam stood, eyebrow cocked and ears listening, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm sorry. That's what I came here to say. Just blame me for everything so that we can continue with life…please," he said. Sam's temper subsided and she realized that she had already forgiven him, as he had obviously forgiven her.

"You want me to blame you for everything?" She asked, pointing at herself then him. He smiled, brilliantly.

"Yes, you're on the right track," he said.

"Never gonna happen," she said, shaking her head. Danny felt deflated. He stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Why not? This is every woman's dream! For her lover to tell her she was completely correct and she can blame him for everything that happened," he said, voice frantic as he threw his hands into the air. Sam almost laughed. Why not have a little fun with him?

"Because I am not irresponsible and I'm old enough to take corrections and accept consequences which result from my actions. We are both a part of this problem and if you intend for it to be fixed, then it must be done properly," she said.

"You are being so stubborn" he muttered, trying to reign in control.

"You didn't think so couple days back. If my memory still works then I think you thought quite the opposite of me being stubborn. What about loving someone just the way they are?" She asked, the "L" word cutting her, slicing through her. She blinked back the pain. If he had really loved her, he would never have thought to tell her what he did a few days back. But no one was perfect and she had already forgiven him. Danny went silent for a while and blew a few wisps of his hair from his face, settling with both hands in his pockets. For a while he stared at the floor, making Sam anxious to hear what he would say in his defense. He looked up at her and her heart almost stopped. He looked up at her through his long, dark lashes and Sam could see his maturity for the first time. It was as if she had seen Danny truly serious. A seriousness that was not derived from worry, just plain, true seriousness, with a dose of honesty.

"I do love you, Sam. Even your faults. Hell, you don't have any faults. I don't see any," he said. This caught her off guard for a moment. Was he telling the truth? Did he really think she was perfect?

"I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry," she said, realizing the awkward situation she had put them in. She hadn't meant to bring up love, of all things.

"You're right and it's not because you're going against your decision apropos to me," he said, stepping a bit closer. It was barely noticeable.

"I don't blame you for saying that. You have all right to doubt what I feel for you, Sam. I mean, what I said to you was unforgiveable and I really can't believe you're actually talking to me. Showing me that you've forgiven me, for a while now, I hope. I love you and…and…I don't deserve you. I don't deserve someone as beautiful and strong and true as you. Someone who has better control over herself than I do. Ahh, I think I better go. I can't…I can't do this…" he said. He turned painful eyes on her and she put her hand out to hold onto his. He spun around at the contact.

"Are you serious?" She asked. He had been trying to apologize, but it seemed he didn't know exactly how to explain his jumbled thoughts.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, question signs in his eyes.

"It seems you're trying to trick me. Where did you get the idea from that you don't deserve me. How much dumber can you get?" She asked, not with conviction, but with a welcoming tone as she intertwined their fingers. Danny turned to face her. He smiled.

"Well, I'm not sure up to now what I should say, so I just said something from the top of my head. I've been watching a lot of mopey love movies recently," he said. Sam smirked and looked up at him. She could feel him pulling her closer to his body. It felt good.

"And it so happened to be the dumbest thing you could find," she snorted good-naturedly. He blushed.

"Yeah, you've got it pretty right," he said. His hand came to rest of her fish-stockinged thigh. Sam couldn't help herself from running her hands over his. She gently felt the familiar contours of his biceps. He gently pushed her against a wall and his lips pressed against her neck. She flexed her neck to make it more available. He continued working on her neck, intent of leaving a reminder of himself on her tanned skin. She raised her leg to his side and he held on to it. She hooked it around him, squashing him into her chest. He laughed into her neck.

"We should probably stop," she said, sweetly gasping for breath. It was amazing what feelings he could stir in her.

"Probably," his husky voice floated to her ears. It was undeniably sexy and she knew she didn't have the willpower to resist it. Yet, she had to. They were making out at her front door and her children where to come barging down the stairs at any minute. His hand moved up her thigh and she smiled. It stopped at her hip for a moment and was threatening to go somewhere else when it happened. The kids came barging down the stairs. Danny pulled away immediately and clumsily. He almost fell as he pushed away from Sam, trying to compose himself. She didn't overreact. She was used to pretending. Danny stepped back some and Shaire spotted him.

"Daddy!" He yelled. He ran down the stairs and managed to launch himself into Danny's arms. Sam almost collapsed. Shaire threw his arms around Danny's neck, squeezing him into a hug. Danny beamed as he held his seven year old in his arms. Sam was still dizzy. Had Shai really called him 'daddy'? It was unbelievable and impossible. She shook her head clear and came to the conclusion that she had been hallucinating. Zoey came hop, hopping down the steps. She looked up from pulling on a boot.

"Danny!" She exclaimed, eyes bright and smile wide.

"Hey Zoe!" He said. She pulled up her boot and hurriedly descended the stairs. She gave him a big hug, with Shaire still in Danny's arms.

"What a pleasure it is to see you both this morning, well, you three this morning," he said, smiling courteously at Sam. Her eyes roamed the room and she felt the slight beginnings of a blush.

"Maybe we should get going, so you guys aren't too late for school," Sam said, placing her hand on the door, trying to hurry them out.

"So, you excited for your first day of school?" Danny asked as he placed Shaire on the ground. The little boy quickly placed his hands in Danny's. So did Zoey. They walked off, all three, to Sam's car. The hold that Sam had on the door changed from a hurrying gesture to a form of support. She was still slightly dizzy and a question hung over her head. Daddy? The car horn blew loudly, rocking Sam out of her head.

"What…how..huh?" She asked herself as she searched the pockets of her miniskirt for her car keys. They were gone. Sam rolled her eyes and left the house, slamming the door shut behind her. There was only one person responsible…Zoey.

**AT ZOEY'S SCHOOL**

Sam pulled up in front of the school yard, all the normal bustling over with. They were very late. Sam could even see some of the students glance through the windows to see who was waiting in the car.

"I am going to talk to the principal about why Zoey's late. I'll be right back," Sam told Danny who was sitting in the passenger's seat. She slid off her seatbelt and pushed the car door open.

"In that?" He asked, bringing attention to her huge combat boots, plaid miniskirt with black fishnet stockings and a graphic tee which hugged her breasts reasonably well and also showed a bit of stomach.

"I think mommy looks nice," Shaire said.

"Stop being a pervert," Danny turned to his son.

"What's a pervert?" Shaire asked as he leaned forward in his seat, seatbelt stretching. Sam didn't wait to hear the answer; she stepped out and slammed the door. She ran her fingers through her long hair and slid on a pair of shades.

"You look awesome, Sam," Zoey said, appraising her mother. Both started to walk toward the building.

"I haven't dressed like this in ages!" Sam exclaimed, spinning around happily.

"No wonder I've never seen you like this before. Ben should fall down the stairs more often," Zoey said.

"Yeah, I totally agree. I'll have to talk to him about that," Sam smiled, understanding her own, personal joke.

"Hold up. Stop," Zoey ordered. Sam halted just a few steps in front of Zoey. She turned to the 14 year old and lowered her shades so as to look directly at her.

"You trying to tell me you wanna ditch school?" Sam asked.

"Huh? No! I just want to know how things are between you and Danny," Zoey said.

"Oh," Sam said, "…I'm just…confused," she added, pulling her sunglasses back on.

"About what?" Zoey asked, concerned.

"I know I have to choose. I have to choose Ben, but Danny is so irresistible. I can't leave him alone. One minute I think that yes, I don't want Danny in my life anymore. I'll tell him to leave and never come back, like he was supposed to. But, when I see him I just want to hold him in my arms. Just let him know that I've never wanted anyone like how I've wanted him. It's really hard for me. I have to choose between what's good for me and what's best for me. Do you see the trouble I'm in?" Sam asked, her brows shaping out the emotion of confusion mixed with frustration. Zoey remained silent for a while, thinking about what she should say to Sam.

"We don't have time now to discuss this, but I promise when we get home, it'll be the first thing we talk about ok?"

"I know, I know. Ok," Sam said.

"But think about this for a while Sam. What is what's good for you is the best thing for you?" Zoey asked. Sam's mouth remained closed. She didn't agree with Zoey but it was nice to entertain that thought.

"Let's get you to the principal to explain your lateness," Sam sighed, unable to say anything else about the topic.

"I won't get in trouble you know. And if you're so worried then you can call them or something. Not that it's embarrassing that my mom dropped me off. I think my mom is cool," Zoey smiled up at Sam.

"Stop buttering me up and get to your class. They'll call me in time," Sam said, sending Zoey off with a little push. Zoey ran off, waving shortly to Sam

"Bye," Sam mouthed as Zoey disappeared through the front doors. Sam twirled around and headed back to her car. She swung the driver's door open and slid onto the seat with very fluid movements. She turned her head to glance at Shaire. His eyes widened and he covered his face. Sam glanced quizzically at Danny. Danny glanced around at Shaire.

"You can look, but you can't let her feel like you're undressing her," he told Shaire. Shaire peeked at Sam and very slowly removed his fingers. He grinned at them both.

"I knew that. Told ya I was grown up. Mommy, daddy told me what a pervert is. I'm never gonna be one of those," the boy said, eyes going wide with 'those'. Sam's hand tightened on the wheel and she glared at Danny. He narrowed her eyes at her. He wasn't opposed to Shaire calling him that. She was sure this time that she had heard him say "daddy".

"Good, because you're going to need that strong willpower when you become a teenager," Sam said and drove off, her thoughts cutting off everything that was said after that.

"Sam. Sam! HEY SAM!" Danny yelled at her. She very smoothly stepped out of her mind and turned to Danny who was now knocking on her window from outside. They had arrived at Shaire's new school. Sam immediately left the car, locking it then looking at the school. The name of the school was announced like the name of any normal school, by the name being engraved at the very front in big letters, for the whole world to see.

"Dewire Elementary School," she read the words to herself. She was in a slight shock. Shaire was going to school. He would be in the third grade. He wouldn't be close to her all day anymore. She dismissed her thoughts and examined the school, again. It hadn't changed since she'd visited it the week before. It was flat and wide, the most fitting description Sam could come up with. It was just a one-storey building which spread over the huge expanse of land. At the front stood swing-sets, monkey bars and the works. The main door leading to the entire school was covered in handprints and footprints made from paint. It was a friendly environment. She turned to glance at Danny.

"Yeah, I'm coming with you. Did you seriously think I was going to miss his first day of school?" Danny asked, rhetorically.

"Then, let's go," Sam said and they all set off, Shaire chattering the entire way. The office wasn't so hard to find. On the clear glass door was a sign that read "THE OFFICE" in big painted letters. On either side it was boxed it with two handprints. Sam pushed the door open and stepped in, Shaire and Danny following. It was the secretary who greeted them, and he sent them to the principal. After a few minutes in the office, Sam and Danny watched their little boy begin his first day of school.

"I wish I could go with him," Sam said. She felt Danny hold onto her hand, supportively.

"Sure you would…but think about how embarrassing that would be," he said. Sam smiled and tugged her hand from his. She turned to walk away. Danny took four strides to pull up next to her, taking her hand in his now.

"What are you going to do now, Mrs. Nichols?" He whispered, his voice extremely close to her ear. His surprisingly ice cold breath wrapped itself comfortably around Sam's ear. She tried not to enjoy it, but it was impossible.

"I don't know, probably go somewhere and be rebellious," she said, grasping Danny's hand. He smiled and she could hear it somehow.

"Perfect. I have just the right place to be rebellious…plus, I have someone for you to meet," he said, his voice closer. Sam turned her head to look at him and his lips brushed against her forehead. She almost jumped. Was he that close to her? She couldn't help but look into his eyes, so alluring, and think that he was just right. So right that he was beyond perfect. And very soon she would have to make a clear choice, never going back on it. She was suddenly confused. If Ben had been the less favourable, yet smarter choice, why had she pushed him down the stairs? He would never forgive her. Not that she wanted him to; she would probably never forgive him for his errors. She was doing it all wrong. Her confusion was blocking out her logic.

"Where are we going?" She asked, noticing too that not only confusion could block out logic. Just Danny's perfect face, the feel of his hands in hers, the way he said her name and the love she knew he had for her. A love that was more radiant than diamonds, and as forbidden as immortality.

"Somewhere, we're going somewhere. But don't worry, I'll give you directions since you're driving and all," he smiled as his face came a little closer to hers. His succulent lips were no more than an inch away. Sam turned away, desire castigating her.

"I'll be listening to your every word. I have no need to get lost today."

**Ok, I admit this chapter was boring, but, it's important. Also, don't think Zoey is in here for no reason. I know why I made her afraid of ghosts and man, the climax is when Ben gets back. I can't wait! Lol! I know, I know, you all hate him, but I have big plans for Benny!! Muahahahahaaaaa! Ha!! And please…PLEASE tell me if I slip up. For example, in earlier chapters I say someone's name is Kate, then I start calling her Katherine. Please tell me!!!!**


	8. A Reunion

**Things are probably going to go slowly right about now. I have no more chapters that are stored up and waiting for me to fix up, I'm making it all up as I go along. This means that what you see right now is where I have stopped. Chapter 9 is barely in progress!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed. Sorry I didn't list you guys. Forgive me?**

**Chapter 8: A Reunion**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, but I do own a miserable life. And don't worry, there's enough of it to share.**

Sam parallel parked and stared outside.

"The park?" She asked, turning to Danny. He was grinning and Sam couldn't help the force that tugged her mouth into a smile.

"Yup, just the place," he said, excitedly. Sam shook her head and unlocked her seatbelt.

"How original," she said as she stepped out. She slammed the door behind her and turned to lean on the body of the car to look at Danny. The warm wind blew across her face, harshly using her hair as a whip. She pushed her sunglasses over her eyes and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. She was considering cutting it.

"I know!" He continued, excited, totally ignoring Sam's sarcasm. She rolled her eyes under her glasses and missed when Danny walked over to her side. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off her car. Sam followed behind him easily, forgetting anything else but where she was and who she was with.

"Where are you taking me? Are you kidnapping me Danny Fenton?" She asked.

"Probably. God knows that I want you to myself," he smiled. Sam smiled back and allowed him to pull her onto a wooden bench under a big tree. He plopped himself on it and pulled Sam down onto his lap with a whole lot of giggling. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. She melted against him, somehow able to enjoy the breeze that blew around them. People were walking their dogs, children were playing, small ice cream trucks and other small food trucks were parked to one side of the park with a huge crowd around them. It was a perfect setting to relax.

"So, what did you really bring me here for? To sexually harass me in public?" She asked.

"You'll find out in time. Hmmm…sexual harassment is a nice idea," he teased in a low, seductive voice. Sam could feel his hand on her chest. She looked down and saw nothing.

"Coward," she growled lightly.

"Ah, a challenge," he said and his hand flashed into view. Sam pushed it off and he laughed, only wrapping his arms around her more tightly and leaning in to smell her hair and kiss her neck under her hair so subtly.

"Wow, you did bring me here to sexually harass me," she smiled, enjoying the way his warm lips massaged her neck. His answer was a moan that sent shivers through her and a change from warm to icy. Sam arched her back just a little at the change. She could feel his laughter at the back of her neck.

"Anyone watching would think we're having sex," she said, twisting to the side in his lap. He looked up at her innocently with a question in his eyes.

"Do you want to try?" He asked. Sam's mouth hung slightly open in surprised amusement and then she smirked.

"I don't think so, I'm still marri…"

"Shhh. Don't say it," Danny said gently grasping her left hand. His fingers touched her ring and he looked at it. There, below Benjamin's ring, was his ring. She blushed, only to blush even more for it had been a while since she had turned pink.

"You still have this?" He whispered, looking into her eyes. Her hair fanned out, cutting their faces off from anybody's view. It was like a tent around them.

"Of course, I…I never left it behind…not once," she whispered back. Danny was so overcome by emotion that Sam could see it in his face. Danny crushed his lips to hers, fiercely, almost pushing her off his lap. She probably would have fallen too, if his hands were still not grasping her. His kiss was so powerful that Sam twisted her hands into the front of his shirt, a tiny ripping sound being heard. They moved rhythmically as his tongue pushed into her mouth, enveloping it in a blanket of ice. Sam gasped against his lips and moaned as her tongue started to battle with his romantically. Something strong built up in Sam and when he tried to pull away, she pulled him back in.

"Sam," he whispered against her face and a wave of ice cold breath washed over the contours of her face, touching every inch. She shivered with delight. Being a halfa had its advantages she had to admit.

"Danny." She whispered back, in the sweetest voice he had ever heard. He shivered at her voice. She pulled back, out of the most powerful kiss she had ever experienced and laughed.

"You're covering me in ice and you're the one that's shivering," she said, flipping her hair over one shoulder.

"Can we do that again?" He asked breathlessly. Sam then noticed how quickly her chest was moving up and down to regulate her breathing.

"I wish," she whispered, looking away. Danny's hand rubbed the exposed skin beneath her short skirt.

"I love you, so much, Sam. I thought I was going to go crazy insane without you," he whispered huskily into her hair, kissing it.

"Eh-hem, excuse me," somebody cleared their throat. Sam's eyes caught Danny's happy look, the one he had when he had left the car, and her head snapped around to see who he was so happy to see. It was Jazz. It was Jazmine Fenton, standing a few feet away from Sam, in a skirt suit, looking very professional and lovely. Sam froze for half a second, then she launched off of Danny's lap and ran right into his sister, almost knocking the thin girl down in her rush.

"Oh my goodness, Jazz! JAZZ! Is it really, really you? I didn't see this one coming! No wonder that old fart over there was so happy when we got here. Jazz!" She yelled as she crushed the girl with a massive bear hug.

"Sam! It's been…forever! When Danny told me he was bringing you here today, I thought I would stop by. I don't work too far from here, which meant that nothing was going to keep me from not coming!" Jazz exclaimed.

"Are you still breathing, Jazz?" Danny asked as he wandered over to them.

"Just fine," Jazz choked out. She was turning purple.

"Ok, time to let me hug her," Danny said, resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. She let go of Jazz and turned to face Danny.

"You've had her all to yourself for how long, I don't know. Allow us to have a good reunion, would you!" Sam said, and she was back to killing Jazz. When they pulled away from each other, Sam was fighting the tears from the corner of her eyes.

"I couldn't help but notice you guys and your make-out session, from across the park. Rather interesting as I'm sure more was going on that no one could see," Jazz said. Sam blushed again and glared at Danny.

"As if you didn't enjoy it, Sam," he said, hugging her. He gave her a peck on the cheek to back up his words.

"Hey, Danny, could you go get me something to eat over there, by that restaurant on wheels?" Sam asked. Danny looked over at the line. It was the longest one. He groaned to himself. That would be a long wait.

"Ok, what does your heart desire?" He asked.

"Whatever you like, you can just get me that," she said. Danny cocked one of his eyebrows.

"Umm, sure," he said and he started jogging off. Sam pulled Jazz onto a bench.

"I need to know about Danny," Sam began right away. Jazz seemed confused for a while, until she realized that sending Danny away was meant to get them alone time.

"What do you need to know?" She asked.

"What it was like for him in prison," Sam said. Jazz glanced behind her to see Danny join the line.

"I know I haven't seen you in a while, but I need to know this, before he comes back. When he comes back, we can talk about you. Please, I need to know," Sam begged.

"Danny mentioned you were married. Is that…true?" Jazz asked. Sam swallowed and nodded. Jazz gasped softly.

"His name is Benjamin Nichols and he's a lawyer. We're been married for 4 years and we have adopted 2 children. Zoey, who is 14 and Shaire, who is 7. He doesn't know about Danny, he also doesn't know that Shaire is Danny's son. He doesn't know how much I hate him and no one else from now on out except you will know that I pushed him down the stairs and he's in the hospital now," Sam confessed in a whisper. Jazz seemed frozen; Sam was wondering if she was even breathing. The whole world paused with Jazz. When her chest started moving again, so did reality.

"You have a son?" She asked. Her question came out as a whisper, though Sam was sure it wasn't supposed to. The incredibility of what she had said had knocked the voice out of Jazz.

"Yes. He's 7 and he looks exactly like Danny. He even calls him Daddy. I don't know how that is. I've never told him or implied it in any way. I don't know how he knows. He knows so many things that I don't want him to know. And…and…Jazz…he's a…he's…" Sam stuttered.

"He a quarter ghost," Jazz finished in surprise, in that same tone as she finished Sam's sentence. Sam swallowed past the knot in her throat and nodded. Jazz leaned back against the back of the seat in awe.

"You pushed your husband down the stairs? Why?" She asked, her voice gaining regularity.

"Because he hit me and threatened my children. I never loved him and I never will. I only married him because Danny told me I had to move on. I don't work, thanks to me giving up the fight against my parents, so I solely depend on him. I am using him; I only want the best for Zoey and Shaire. If I was selfish, I would have left him years ago when I realized that I had made a bad decision. The worst in my life. Now I am utterly confused. I have to choose between Danny and Ben. And it seems less like a choice now because I threatened to kill my husband and we both hate each other. What the hell was I thinking?" Sam asked in a rush of words, shrieking out the last sentence.

"Be calm, Sam. Obviously you have made a choice, subconsciously. So why beat yourself up over it? It's clear that Danny is who your mind has chosen, why else then would you push Ben down the stairs…apart from him hitting you," Jazz said. Sam cocked her side to the side in thought and looked at Jazz. Something that Zoey had said came back to her_. "But think about this for a while Sam. What is what's good for you is the best thing for you?" _Zoey had asked.

"So, you're saying that Danny is who I am choosing?" Sam asked.

"Not really. What I am trying to do is help you to realize who you should choose, or you could look at it as me giving Danny the upper hand. I am not controlling you, I am simply pushing you in the right direction," Jazz smiled.

"I can deal with that in a while. I just need to know about Danny," Sam urged, her eyes flickering to the subject, who was nowhere close to the front of the line and was frowning deeply.

"And you worry about him. Definitely Danny. You do know that nothing you do can stop me from telling him all of this, right?" Jazz asked as she raised an eyebrow. It was fun to tease Sam.

"I will get down on my knees and beg you, Jazz," Sam said. Jazz raised her eyebrows in question.

"Ok, I wouldn't, but could you please stop torturing me?" Sam asked. Jazz held up her hands in defeat.

"Ok, ok, what did you say you wanted to know?" She asked with a smile.

"I want to know everything. He hasn't told me in detail about prison and I want to know," Sam said softly, composing herself.

"Well, it wasn't easy. For a while he was suicidal and depressed. And it didn't take a genius to figure out what was the cause of it. So, we couldn't really help him, just hope that he would find a way out of it. He refused to eat, he got in a lot of fights with the other inmates, he didn't care what happened to him and he rejected all forms of comfort. For him it was like being locked away in hell, without the slightest chance of escape," Jazz said, looking straight at Sam. Sam's eyes widened and she looked away from Jazz's eyes guiltily.

"Suicidal?" Sam asked, still staring at the ground. She felt Jazz pull her into a hug.

"It's not your fault, Sam," Jazz said. Sam shook her head.

"I know it isn't, but a little part of me can't let me get away with listening to him when he told me not to visit him. I gave up that part of me a long time ago…I wish I hadn't," she said, turning to look at Jazz.

"He got over it, eventually. He told himself that he was an idiot for punishing himself for something out of his control and he made up his mind to persevere through everything. He wanted to give you up, but that was truly impossible. He never got over you or moved on, he simply stored you in that special place where he would have reason to cry whenever he visited it, and that was often. For most of the past 7 years, Danny was an emotional mess. I couldn't help him. Neither could mom or dad. He did everything by himself. I am proud of him, my strong little brother," Jazz said, smiling at Danny. He grinned back and waved.

"So…what was it like outside of prison? When did he get out?" Sam asked. She too gazed at Danny, wondering about him.

"He got out 5 months ago. It was the happiest day of my life. The happiest day of all our lives! They publicly apologized to us and it was on a whole lot of cable stations. They gave him a job as a mechanic and he started out on the road of life. Fixing cars isn't what he likes to do, but it's something that doesn't let him depend on other people too much. He still thinks it would have been cool to be an astronaut, but since he can't get so close to his stars, he decided that he wanted to work at an observatory. So, he started his classes and it brought us here to Cambridge. I'm not sure how the observatory business goes, but he's so excited to be working there already since his classes haven't finished. It seems he knows the constellations like the back of his hand," Jazz said, almost boasting.

"I never knew that," Sam said. Danny had never told her he was interested in the constellations.

"Really? Never?" Jazz seemed confused as her brows wrinkled together.

"Never," Sam said, exasperated. Jazz frowned for a bit.

"It's understandable enough why he didn't tell you," she said, after seemingly analyzing a thought.

"Pray tell why he didn't tell me," Sam said. She folded her arms roughly against her chest as she seethed with anger. Why didn't he tell her? It was obviously a major factor of his life. How much did Sam not know?

"He spent more time looking at you than he did at the stars. And when he wasn't looking at you, he was thinking about you. Plus, his interest dwindled after mom and dad were kidnapped. I can see now why he didn't mention it to you," Jazz said. Sam's anger instantly dissipated. She blushed slightly at what Jazz had said. She was the only one who was on his mind.

"Oh," Sam said simply. Jazz's words flowed through her head again. "Suicidal" rang a high note in her thoughts amongst those that played softly in her head.

She sat, frozen, for a while as she ran through her head what it must have been like for him. She had not been suicidal, though she had wished herself dead many times; she had just simply given up on life going the way she had wanted it to. She didn't fight anything after that, she didn't fight against the tide, she had let it fling her onto the shore of reality and real life. She wished that neither of them had had to face what they had faced.

"So what about you, Sam? How did you deal?" Jazz asked. They both looked at Danny; he was finally at the front of the line.

"I didn't. I gave up on life being whatever you make of it. I just listened to my parents and ended up doing what they wanted me to. I didn't care. And I always thought that by adopting children, I would be helping them. I never once thought that I was pulling them into my selfish, damned life! Zoey hates Ben! She calls him a bastard. Shaire is probably terrified of him. You should have seen him when he told me that he knew that Ben had hit me. He doesn't like him either! How could I have been so selfish all along? I'm killing my kids," Sam bashed herself. She could feel the tears. She didn't feel like living. It was hard to figure out what was the worst mistake of her life. She had made so many devastating choices.

"Don't hate yourself. Do not, Samantha!" Jazz ordered. Sam swiped her hand across her eyes and sniffed. She couldn't cry, she was stronger than this. She could find other ways to express her emotions.

"It won't do you any good to hate yourself! Not now! You have the chance, right now, to turn your life around! To change it! And that chance is coming right over here," Jazz pleaded with Sam. Sam sucked up the tears and focused on Danny who was walking over a disappointed look on his face and nothing in his hands.

It came suddenly, nothing short of an epiphany. The confused muddle that had once declared itself as Sam's brain was instantaneously cleared and she could see. She could think logically. She knew what she had to do.

She almost burst into tears, with the accompaniment of laughter as she realized that what she had truly wanted was what would work out best. Danny was her answer and she had been so dumb to not have noticed. Benjamin was not the one to be chosen. To continue surrendering to him would be to make not only her miserable, but also her children. She could not afford for Shaire and Zoey to feel the pain she felt. She would not let them.

All along she had thought that Ben would have been better, and it was clear. He had money, he could get either Zoey or Shaire into well-known schools based on his reputation and associations. But that wasn't the only thing that mattered in life. It was family. It was waking up in the morning and being happy. It was Danny.

"Thank you Jazz. I think I know what to do," Sam said. Jazz gently squeezed Sam in their hug before she let her go.

"I assure you, you're doing it right," Jazz said as Sam stood up. Sam nodded to her beaming friend and straightened herself. Her eyes fell on Danny immediately. Sam smiled and her eyes became blurry. Yes, she could feel it, it was right. She quickly began walking, knowing already what she would say to him.

His shoulders were slumped in disappointment. His hands only held money as he began the walk back over to his girls. They had nothing there that he thought Sam would like. It was all meat. He was trying to remember if she had changed her diet. His memory was from the time Ben had invited him over to dinner. He could not remember her choices; he was too busy trying to keep himself composed. He looked up and saw Sam, gracefully walking to meet him. His spirits sank lower. She would be disappointed too. He didn't want that. Then he realized that she was happy. He was confused. She was happy, yet tears shone in her eyes. What was wrong?

Walking was taking too long and Sam started sprinting, as fast as she could run, across the distance. She slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and almost dumping them on the ground. Her hands were flung around his neck and her head buried deep into his chest. His hands immediately wrapped around her, one hand rubbing her hair gently.

"Is something wrong?"' He asked, rocking them from side to side. He could feel her shake her head. It was a no.

"Then…what's happening?" He continued. Sam pulled away from his chest and tilted her head to look up at him, into his wonderfully blue eyes.

"I love you, Danny. More than I love my life. My life has been hell without you. I don't know how I went through 7 years without you by my side. I want you, Danny. I want you to be with me every day. I want to go to sleep with your arms around me. I want Zoey and Shaire to call you daddy. I want you in my life. Forever," she said, the tears flowing. Danny was shocked. He searched her eyes to see if he could read what had happened so suddenly to produce such a reaction from her.

"…What?" He asked, all intelligent words failing him. Sam smiled and pressed her body to his more sensually. She raised a hand to touch his face. The face she could gaze on for all eternity. The face of her lover. She tipped and brought his tender lips down to hers. And she kissed him. He kissed her back, a thankful reflex action. He pulled away from her a few seconds into the kiss and stared at her face with tears streaming down it. He raised a hand and gently killed one of her tears. His heart went soft. It had been a long time since he had seen her like this. Since recently, she had refused to show vulnerability to anyone, even to him.

She had allowed him to cry when they had spoken about Shaire. She had held him and pushed back everything while he cried like a little boy without a mother. And she had not collapsed in front of him when they had argued. She stood firm and defended her ground. How could he have called her weak especially when she was standing so strongly against him because of what she believed in? He had been an idiot. He didn't deserve her forgiveness. He didn't deserve her showing to him the faults in her strong shield. He wasn't enough for her. He wanted to cry too.

Her gesture was of course one of acceptance. She had come running into his arms like he could save her from everything evil, and keep her mind at peace. She had told him willingly how much she wanted him. She wanted him as her life, her reason to push through every day. He couldn't be that for her. He was incapable of her expectations. How silly he had been. How silly he had been to think that he would try everything in his power to win back Sam and make her his life. How ironic too, that in the beginning he had been the one fighting for her, never wanting to give up. Yet, here she was, without much effort on his part, giving him what he had wanted since he laid eyes on her in her house. Yet, he wanted to let her go. Tell her she was right, she had been right from the start and he was messing up everything. He was messing up everything she had worked for. He simply did not deserve her.

He blinked back the tears. It was his time to be strong. He would have to tell her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man, staring openly and unabashed at them. He was tall, with blue eyes and cropped golden hair. He was unnervingly familiar, but Danny could not place who he was. He shook the stranger's eyes out of his head and looked into Sam's amethyst orbs of amazement. She was searching his eyes too and her smile, still intact despite her tears, slowly faded to a frown of dark clouds and rain.

"What is it? Aren't you happy? I'm here. I'm yours. I'm not fighting you anymore Danny," she said softly, staring into his eyes now, ripping his heart out with her words. He placed his hands on her shoulders and put a space between them. He took a deep breath and shook his head to quell the storm that raged onwards in it. He looked deep into her eyes and spoke.

"I'm sorry Sam. I…I can't."

**It's so strange. Some days I sit and I can't write a thing and other days everything flows so fast that I can't possibly get it out in time! It's abnormal and not good, since I felt like I was catching writers' block several times this week, but everything started flowing again for the last part and I went into chapter 9 without blinking. PLEASE REVIEW!! OR FLAME ME!! WHICHEVER! I NEED FEEDBACK!!!**


	9. Strangers?

**I was on such a roll towards the end of chapter 8 that I immediately started on chapter 9, barely any pause. That felt good. I hope my roll continues for the rest of the summer for I have so many stories to write, half of them original. **

**Sorry for not answering your reviews, but thanks to all my WONDERFUL reviewers: Magma823, Dredoll, Extant, Skaties, sokker_rocks, DinoButtons, bloodmoon13, ShortSweetN'ToThePoint and RenesmeeScarlet. Wow, that's a lot! THANKS GUYS! Did I miss anyone?**

**Chapter 9: Strangers?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, do I have to repeat that every time?!**

"What?" Sam asked in confusion. She began grasping for explanations, wondering what had made him change his mind. She had finally accepted him and now he was pushing her away. Both literally and figuratively. He took a few steps back and placed his hands behind his back. He looked at Sam, seriousness emanating from his posture, his eyes, the set of his mouth.

"I can't do it, Sam. All along I thought that you were miserable…"

"I am miserable! I hate Ben!"

"…and that you wished for me to kinda…save you. And so I kept on butting into your life. Forcing myself between you and Ben. Being selfish, just as you said," he continued as if she had not said anything. Sam's lost and confused expression changed immediately and her brows met in frustration. She had to keep under control. If she didn't, she would be screeching at him on the top of her voice to stop his nonsense and kiss her. Kiss her hard and love her.

"Shut up, Danny. Shut up!" She yelled in an agreeable volume of voice for the area they were in. He clamped his mouth shut and stared at her, sadly. What could she say to make him change his mind again?

"Sam, I know what you want and I am finally prepared to give it to you," he said.

"You do not know what I want Danny! If you had known, we wouldn't be here right now. We'd be somewhere private where we could really talk things through. Danny, I want you to love me! You hear me…LOVE ME DANIEL FENTON! Because I love you like no other and I want you to return my feelings so badly that I will do anything…anything for you to say that to me and mean it like you never meant anything in your life. These feelings are so intense, I've never felt them before, and they only get stronger as time goes on. I know I don't want to say it, but it's the damn truth! I can't live without you Danny. My life is utterly barren and wasted without you. I want you in my arms now and every moment after now. I want to smell your shirt and your delicious skin and snuggle into your chest for as long as I live. It's the truth that I was afraid of. And now…now you know…" she said. She had felt like a little boat being tossed around roughly by the violent waves of a vast ocean with no land in sight, no reassurances. Yet, as she continued, the rough seas smoothed and her boat rocked from side to gentle side. Danny sighed.

"We can't talk about this here. It's too much," he said, holding his head and looking away. Sam was as deflated as a vacuumed balloon. Did nothing she had said touched him. Why was it that when she had stopped fighting, he had started? What was wrong with them?

"We can talk at my house…or yours," she said. Danny slowly removed his hand and looked at Sam. She had calmed down now. What should he do?

"My house," he said. He wanted to slap himself. Wasn't he giving her up? He should have told her that there was nothing to discuss. That they were done. He would have ignored the pain that ran like blood through his veins after he had done it. It wouldn't be so bad, just something he would learn to deal with…again. Sam's phone ran and she took it out. It was a text message.

"Maybe we should go now. I have to pick up Zoey soon. Something went wrong in the cafeteria today and the students have to leave early," she said.

"You know what, go pick up Zoey and…and we'll talk later," he said. Sam didn't like this. It would be past uncomfortable to sit on this issue. Her curiosity needed quenching, her heart also needed to stop its terrible, life-threatening beating. She didn't want to be confused for long. Danny thought it was best. He would think things through. Analyze everything and see how to make his next move.

"Umm…ok. Tomorrow then," she agreed.

"Sure, I'll call you," he promised weakly. She didn't believe him. She felt terrible. How could she not trust him? Was their relationship deteriorating? Were they truly meant to be?

'If we're not meant to be, then why do I get this crazy, extra-terrestrial feeling when I think about him, after all this time?' Sam asked herself. Yet, she couldn't prevent second thought from creeping through her holes of doubt. Would she always be miserable? She backed away slowly, looking at him, trying to sort through the confusion that had started again. When she turned her back to him, her head began to hurt. Was it so hard to do? So hard to know if he was the right one?

Jazz was also confused. What was going on? Why weren't they happy and jumping around? She eyed the approaching Sam and saw the devastated look her friend carried.

"Sam…what happened?" She asked. Sam unconsciously licked her lips and turned wide eyes to Jazz.

"I don't know. I don't know if ' really Danny? I don't know what to do," she said and she headed to her car. Jazz was utterly lost. Hadn't Sam just been so sure of herself? Did it take just 2 minutes to get her off track? No. If Sam wanted something, she was going to get it. Something was immensely wrong. She looked at Danny and he looked back too. He wore Sam's expression. Jazz's mission was not yet accomplished.

**AT ZOEY'S SCHOOL**

Sam pulled up to the sidewalk sharply, exhaling roughly as the car stopped. Many of the middle-schoolers stared at her car. They all thought it was a drunk driver and if the driver wasn't drunk, he or she was probably insane. Sam was insanely mad. She tried to calm herself down as she rested her head on the steering wheel. She felt like she wanted to rip someone's throat out. Someone knocked on the glass and she jumped, heart racing. It was Zoey.

"You look pleasant today, Sam," she said, smiling dryly. Sam unbuckled herself and stepped out of the car. She almost slapped herself. How could she have missed the boy standing beside Zoey. He was exactly the same height as Zoey. He was a dark boy with low cut hair and snowy white teeth. He wore intelligent glasses and in his eyes, one could see his years ahead of his true years. He seemed so smart and intelligent that for a second Sam forgot how to talk.

"Umm…hi," she decided to start. She tried to look happy. It would not be fair to take out her anger on the boy.

"Oh, this is Nathaniel. He was the dude who brought me to the fair, Saturday," Zoey said.

"Oh," was all Sam could say. She mentally head slapped herself. Zoey gave her a look that said, "pull yourself together man! You look like shit!"

"Hello Mrs. Nichols," he said, extending his hand. Sam took it weakly and he shook it gently. He looked at Zoey and Zoey at him. Zoey's face was rather easy to read and at that moment she was telling him to watch what he thought about her mother. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. He had been dizzy all day with the thought of meeting Zoey's mother. It was only made worse when there was some serious gas leakage in the cafeteria and their day was cut short. Sam sighed and the two teens turned their eyes to her. She leaned against the car and relaxed.

"I'm sorry, Nathaniel. I'm not exactly in the best shape right now. It is nice to finally meet you though. I was wondering when it would happen. Anyway, you should come have dinner with us one day…if you're not afraid of the thought, that is," Sam said.

"Why, thank you Mrs. Nichols. I would love to have dinner with you and your family," he smiled, politely.

"Cool. Zoey'll tell you when, k?" She asked.

"Ah, yes, maam," he said. Sam opened the door and slid in.

"You ready, Zoe?"

"Yeah, Sam," Zoey said. She turned to Nathaniel.

"Are you sure she's your mom? I mean…she looks rather…" He began.

"Hot? I know," Zoey boasted, "but I seriously thing that you're over acting. Sam's cool. You don't have to treat her like an adult," Zoey said. Nathaniel let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Zoey clapped him on the shoulder twice.

"See ya tomorrow Nate," she said as she ran around to the passenger side and slid in.

"Bye," he said as he waved to them. Sam and Zoey waved back before they drove off. Nathaniel shook his head to clear it. That was…original.

"I could see it from a mile, Sam. I knew when you almost crashed into our building that something was up. Now spill! And so you know, I know you spent the entire day with Danny," Zoey lost no time in jumping into talk, exaggerating where possible. Sam sighed and slowed the car down. She was still driving like an idiot. She wasn't the only one in the car now, she had to think logically.

"How did you know that? And it was not for the entire day," Sam asked as she let out a breath.

"I have my very dependable sources, and…you know what I mean when I say the entire day," Zoey said, rolling her eyes. She pushed her back against the seat and looked at Sam out of the corner of her eyes, trying to read her.

"So, Nathaniel, huh," Sam said.

"Nathaniel Kempt," Zoey smiled.

"Your boyfriend," Sam said. Zoey shrugged.

"If you wanna call him that," she said. Sam laughed.

"First love. Ahhh, refreshing," Sam said.

"I barely like him so I can't love him," Zoey frowned.

"Really? Then why date him?"

"Cuz he's smart. He knows his stuff and he also knows not to disrespect me. He has this weird sense of fun that I like."

"Elaborate please."

"Like when we went to the fair and we got on all the rides and stuff. I won myself a teddy bear, but then I ended up giving it to him cuz I wouldn't lug it around. Then he said it'd be cool if we could do a kinda Monday Night Raw thing with the bears. We could dress 'em up and give them names and all. At first I thought that was kids stuff, but then I thought how much fun that would be."

"To be a kid again. He doesn't look like the type to embrace the kid inside."

"Exactly…, people never see that about him. They only see smart. But I see the kid…the kid who enjoys bears ripping their stuffing and dying in the ring." They both laughed.

"I'd play."

"Of course you would, Sam. You're the super cool mom, don't forget that!"

"Ahh, I'm honoured."

"So, you got me talking bout my day. How about yours?" Zoey asked. She was all ears now, putting aside the teenager for the older, wiser woman of the future. Sam stopped laughing and stared straight ahead of her. It seemed as if she was not going to answer Zoey. Zoey was patient and waited.

"Today was not good. I'm all confused again," Sam said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"What do you mean by 'again'?" Zoey asked.

"I saw Jazz. I was absolutely shocked. I haven't seen her in ages. It was just so fantastic to see her again. And she looked amazing. And we spoke. Sure enough, I asked about Danny, immediately after sending him to buy something for me. And, being Jazz, she tortured me and made me tell my life story. I rushed through it and demanded that she tell me about Danny."

"Did she?"

"Yes, she did and it was really sad. She told me that a few years back, he was suicidal and depressed. Nothing could help except his willpower. He got over his depression and now he works at the observatory. Just by hearing her tell that story I realized that there was no choice. It was Danny all along. I mean, not everything has to do with money. That's the only thing Ben has."

"Money doesn't make the world go around. That saying is sad because it is so false."

"In this case, it's true. So, I decided to tell Danny what I had decided. I told him I loved him and wanted him badly back into my life."

"Ouch. That must have been embarrassing. Telling someone that and having them reject you. You can hide out in my room for as long as you like, Sam," Zoey said, wincing with her "ouch". Sam turned to smile at her.

"I'm not embarrassed that I said it and even if I could take it back, I wouldn't. I meant it and I know he feels the same, but..but…"

"But something is wrong and you don't know."

"Exactly! I told him and he told me that he couldn't do it. I was so confused because a second before I was so sure that it was him. That it was Danny Fenton. But I was easily confused…again. Then I began thinking about if I really trusted him and right now I'm thinking that there is no choice. A choice doesn't exist because there is no one to choose between or among," Sam explained.

"Oh boy, this is bad," Zoey groaned.

"I know. There is no choice because I despise Ben. I pushed him down the freakin' stairs for crying out loud! He'll never forgive me and I'll be surprised if he doesn't get the divorce papers going sooner than I can. And then Danny. I have been telling myself that even though I can't have Danny, he's the one. _The_ one," Sam said, placing heavy emphasis on "_the_".

"So, you're saying that you're worried that you wasted your life grieving over him when he isn't _the_ one?" Zoey asked.

"In a way. I'm worried that I can't have either Ben or Danny. I'm worried that I have been wrong since the very beginning and that my life is now a mess. And not only my life, but the life of my children. What if I really don't trust Danny? I can't live with him then!"

"You know what I think? I think it was just a momentary thing, this issue of distrust and him rejecting you…"

"Could you not say 'reject', it's a bit too harsh."

"…denying your claim of love, is that better?

"Yeah, much."

"Good. I think it was just something temporary. I think you really trust him but you are thoroughly confused that you don't know what is up and what is down, down, down. These things need time and a little explanation. Get him to tell you what was going on in his head this evening, just the essence of it. And set him straight because there is no way in this galaxy or the next that that man is not dying in the ocean of love for you."

"Smart words for a girl your age. Are you sure you're 14?"

"Sometimes…no. There are many times when I feel younger." Zoey grinned and Sam turned to Zoey to grin too. When she looked at the road, her eyes widened. Standing in the middle of the road was a man with mean, blue eyes and golden hair, staring hatefully at her.

"Who the hell is that idiot?" Zoey exclaimed as Sam swerved to the left and lost control for a second. Only for a second. A second was all it took for fear to register in their minds that they might crash. That they might die. A second was all it took for them to realize that the car was bizarrely unbalanced. Zoey screamed and Sam gritted her teeth as she swung the steering wheel. The car landed on its 4 wheels and slid across the rest of the road doing a 180 before slamming into a pole. They jerked in their place at the front of the car as they realized that they had stopped. Zoey's face was pale and she wasn't breathing. Sam was shaken and shaking as she reached across to Zoey and pushed her.

"Zoe, Zoe! Breathe!" She demanded. For a few more seconds Zoey stared ahead of them, then she took a deep breath and turned to look at Sam. Her colour returned with that breath and so did her voice.

"Oh my goodness, Sam! I thought…I thought I was going to die!" She exclaimed. Sam let out a shaky sigh of relief as she realized that Zoey was ok.

"Maybe we should get out and walk," Sam said. Zoey nodded in agreement. She stopped in the middle of a nod. She was terrified again.

"Sam, are we moving?" Zoey asked quietly as her colour drained again. Sam's heart almost stopped as she realized that Zoey was right.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam exclaimed and she pushed her door open. She screamed and pulled it back close. They were so far from the ground that if she had fallen, she would have ended up as street pancake. Zoey began to cry and pray. Sam tried to relax while the questions rumbled in her mind. She had to accept her death.

"What is it? What is it?"Zoey exclaimed. With eyes shut, Sam answered her.

"It's a ghost." And with those three words, Sam heard the most agonizing blood curdling scream. It didn't sound human. Her eyes flew open and she realized that it was Zoey. She looked as if she was possessed. Tears ran down her cheeks and into her clothes. She was flinging her limbs all over the place and ripping her clothes. It was then that Sam remembered that she was terrified of ghosts, no, not just terrified, horribly petrified. Sam started crying too as the car rose even more. Then with a flick of the wrist, Sam was imagining, the car was sent flying in the air, spiraling actually, destination unknown.

Sam could not drown out Zoey's screams of horror, no matter how hard she closed her eyes. It wouldn't matter, in a few seconds they would collide with a house, or a tree or a road, or a person and they would all be dead. She stopped screaming, letting the tears wash her face, her mind half-way to the other side. Then suddenly, it stopped. Sam's eyes were wrenched open by the impact of its stop. In mid-air. Her heart was beating unnaturally, but what could someone who was dying do about that? She looked at Zoey. She had passed out. She began worrying about her. Someone could die of shock. She couldn't will her hands to move. She was scared stiff. She focused on outside and realized that slowly, very slowly, they were being lowered to the ground.

Which ghost had it been? Was he or she merely playing with their lives? And when since did ghosts live in Cambridge? She closed her eyes again, only to force them open. The car landed gently on the ground and before she could try and move to open the door, her door was yanked open and a familiar face pushed itself into her view.

"Phantom," she said. She passed out. Today was just too much.

**Wow, I am definitely on a roll. I actually finished this the same day I put out chapter 8 and I was just writing and everything came to me. It's just amazing! But now, the mystery ghost introduces a problem. Who is he or she? What about the stranger in the road? Is he linked to it all? Who is he? I'm getting excited myself! Don't you just love my cliffies?!**


	10. Again

**Chapter 10. I feel so accomplished! I started this chappie right after I finished chapter 9!! Huzzah!!! LOL! It was good to know that you guys took note of the strange guy from chapter 8. Good detective skills my friends! And I was proud of the review response.**

**THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED!! I LOVE YOU!!!: Flaming Water, ShortSweetN'ToThePoint, DinoButtons, hauntedgal26, Jessi, bloodmoon13, Extant, Magma823. Hope I didn't miss anyone!**

**Sorry for not answering your reviews. It's been busy round here.**

**Chapter 10: Again**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. If I did, I'd have several LG phones. **

Sam stared. She couldn't help it. She sat in her chair and she stared at the man who floated above his chair a few feet in front of her. She had to be dreaming. He looked at her sheepishly and smiled. Of course, Phantom was back. It was rather obvious from the beginning that Phantom, the ultimate ghost fighter was back, after all, Danny was around every day.

"Dan…Phantom, what a surprise to see you here," she said, her eyes narrowing at the spectral being.

"I'm pretty much surprised myself. You're not the only one who wished I was still in 'retirement'," he said, wrapping air quotes around the word "retirement". His butt hit the seat softly and he leaned back, his cold feet brushing against Sam's. She crossed her feet at the ankles and pushed them out some more so that her toes touched his.

"So, am I the only one conscious who knows what happened?" She asked, crossing her arms under her breasts. His eyes automatically latched onto her chest and for a few moments she knew she had lost him.

"Umm…what? Huh?" He asked when he was back in the room, on planet Earth with Sam.

"I wanted to know what happened. Who did it?" She asked. He blinked and then understanding swept across his handsome, ghostly features.

"I really don't know. After you both left, I sensed this ghost. It was so sudden and I knew it wasn't good. I started worrying about you and Zoey. So…I changed. I didn't want to, but better doing something I don't want than risking anyone getting hurt, especially if those people are the ones you care about," he said. He was staring deep into her eyes, smoldering green versus apprehensive violet. There was silence and all they both did was stare. Their minds were in discord. What did Danny mean by "I can't do it"? Do I really want this? Sam out of my live? Both were wondering, 'what do I do?'. Sam took a deep breath and looked away.

"How do we know who attacked us? What if he or she continues?" Sam asked.

"I'll protect you. I won't let anything happen to Shaire. I promise Sam. He's mine as much as he is yours," Phantom promised. He drew his feet back at which Sam lost physical contact. Her heart fell. Then he leaned forward and placed his hands on hers which were resting on the arm of her chair. Her heart felt as if a few jolts of electricity had passed through it. Her hopeful feelings were halted by realization.

"How did you know?" She asked, turning her eyes back to his. She also leaned toward him. She was searching his eyes, trying to read what lay beneath.

"Do what?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"You do what Shaire does," Sam said. She paused, mouth open, confusion attacking her face. Then that look of confusion turned to one of understanding and her open mouth spread into a smile. She leaned back and stretched out her feet to touch his ankles. She shivered internally. Touching him was euphoric.

"Again I ask, do what?"

"You read minds," she said, satisfied with herself. Now it was Phantom's turn to have a dozen expressions crossing his face.

"How did _you_ know?" He asked, leaning back also, his back hitting the chair.

"I'm not a complete idiot, Phantom," Sam rolled her eyes, "I would have had to realize it one day. And that day happened to be today," she finished.

"He reads minds too?" Phantom whispered, leaning toward her again. She mirrored him and soon their heads were resting against each other.

"Not only that, he heals…quickly! I couldn't believe it!" Sam exclaimed in a whisper.

"No," Phantom said in disbelief.

"Yes. What did you expect? He's your son. He's a quarter ghost," Sam continued. Phantom's head fell into her lap and his hands splayed on her thighs.

"I…I…is it possible?" He asked, bringing up his head to look into her eyes. Sam leaned back against her chair and covered her eyes. A headache was coming on. She was tired now.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I really am sorry. I shouldn't put you under so much stress so soon after the accident," he said. He got up and sat in the seat next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and willingly she leaned against him, defeated. It was 4 in the morning. They had been there for the entire night, waiting for Zoey to wake up. Sam had woken up not so long after fainting. She was still in Phantom's arms then. She had been checked up due to Phantom's reluctance to accept her 'I'm fine's'. They had found nothing wrong with her. But Zoey hadn't woken up as yet. They were both on edge about her.

"Zoey is terrified of ghosts. They killed her parents and she's been terrified about them since," she said softly, leaning into his chest, happy to be there. Would he tell her that he was just joking around with her earlier? She was praying that he would. It would have been a cruel joke, but a joke nonetheless.

"Maybe I should stay away from her then," he said, enjoying the feel of Sam in his arms. He mentally slapped himself. No, Sam was not his. There was silence again and then Sam lifted her head to look into his eyes. She took a breath and spoke.

"Why did you say what you said earlier?" She asked softly.

"I don't want to discuss this right now, Sam. You can't manage it now. I promise, we'll talk about it later," he said.

"No. Maybe it's you who can't manage it now, Danny!" She whispered, calling him by his real name.

"Sam. We can't," he said, enunciating every word.

"Yes, Danny, we can and we will. I need to know. Its torture not knowing why you don't want me now…it's like you've never truly loved me," she said, her brows showed downright anger. Danny groaned.

"I do love you, Sam…"

"I know, but why…" she asked, interrupting him

"I'm not good enough for you," he said, cutting her off. Sam's mouth remained open from her previous sentence. Phantom avoided her eyes. Had she finally seen his logic?

"You think you don't deserve me? You actually think that…again?" She asked.

"Yes. I wasn't so sure the first time I said it. I just said it so that you'd forgive me, but…it finally came to me. If you're set on living with Ben, because of your children, my children, our children, then who am I to stop you? I did it already and I'm going to do it again. I just can't have you, Sam. That would be unfair and selfish of me," he said. Sam turned his face to hers. She was smiling. She cuddled into his chest as best as she could and felt light-hearted. She wanted to roll on the floor with laughter at Danny.

"Have you ever noticed how fragile human beings are? A single word or thought can easily change everything. Sometimes, what we truthfully know becomes confusing to us. Most of the times, the worst case of confusion comes from relationships. If some people don't hear 'I love you' every hour, they don't feel like they're loved though they know deep down that the person they hold in their arms loves them more than life itself. It's all so easy to ruin a relationship because someone thinks they're not good enough for the other. I think that's bullshit. Why be together in the first place? Why waste years of loving and yearning for that person? But…I have to admit, this weakness that humans have had affected me too. It still does," she said, a little smile still on her lips.

"How?" He asked, looking at her.

"I'm one of those persons who needs someone to tell them 'I love you' every minute, just to be sure," she said. Phantom opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. Sam looked at him, expectantly. He closed him mouth and twisted it to the side. It appeared that it was causing him pain to hold back his words.

"Say it, Danny. I know you want to say it," she whispered, resting her head against his chest to hear the steady rhythm of his beating heart. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel his willpower dissolving. His face twisted and his mouth opened and closed with the words he wanted to say. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

"I love you," he said. It came out as a soft whisper. As if he was afraid it would hurt her. She smiled.

"I want to hear that every day," she said, capturing one of his hands in hers. He pulled it from her grasp.

"No, you can't…I meant what I said about loving you, but I can't continue to ruin your life," he said, turning his head away to look at nothing in particular. He felt her sigh.

"I don't know why you don't believe me, Danny, but like you, I won't give up," she said. Phantom could hear the determination in her voice and he almost smiled. How badly irony was alive in his life. He heard nothing more from Sam and then he realized that she was sleeping. He relaxed his composure, trying his best to make her comfortable. Sam had made up her mind and was granted peace of mind. It was the opposite for him. He was trying to choose whether to do what was right for Sam or do what was right for him.

"You selfish halfa." The words rang through his head. They had sunk themselves into his brain and had diffused there. The words were everywhere and he knew he wouldn't be rid of them for a while. He flinched and his heart burned as he thought of his words to her. If her words, kind words when compared to his, had hurt him (permanently he was almost sure) then what had his words done? Had she forgiven him already? He had not forgiven himself. This was even more proof that he could not be with her. She was so angelic and kind. He was a selfish, evil halfa. No, they could not co-exist; no matter how much they tried.

His mind brought him back to when they had first met. How much they had changed since then. Sam was no longer rebellious and he was trying to figure out which personality worked for him. He couldn't be goofy after all that he had been through, yet he could not be cold. No one deserved that attitude from him. So, he was stuck somewhere, unable to find his real self. How could she like what he was? How could she love him?

'No, she does love me. She does. I know she does,' he thought. He remembered what she had said about fragile human beings. Was he just like her? Did he need someone to faithfully tell him that they loved him every minute of every day? How pathetic. But did the same rules apply to half-humans?

~~~*~~~

Sam opened her eyes and blinked back the push of the sunlight on her eyelids. Her head was comfortably rested on something cool.

'Danny is still here?' She asked herself sleepily as she fought back the sleep. A hand pushed softly against her face. It was a small hand. She smiled. She knew who it belonged to. Someone leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Another kiss followed and Danny shifted in his seat.

"See, I told ya," Shaire's voice floated to Sam's ears. He was speaking as softly as he could, trying not to bother Sam so much.

"So, you're 7. You know when your mom's gonna wake up and you never give trouble…I couldn't ask for a better nephew," Tucker's voice seemed to shout in her ears. She groaned and removed her head from Phantom's chest. She pulled her eyes open and stared at her son and best friend, sitting in Phantom's original seat, staring at her with wide smiles on their faces.

"Hey Sam," Tucker grinned. Shaire jumped off of Tucker's lap and ran over to Sam.

"Mommy," he said as if he was looking at an angel.

"I missed you, Shai. You having fun at Uncle Tucker's?" Sam asked as he jumped into her lap and hugged her. She smiled at the loving gesture. He pulled back and imitated Tucker's grin.

"Definitely. He has so much cool stuff! And I get to use anyone of them I want. Uncle Tucker said I was a tech genius," Shaire smiled. His eyes flickered to Phantom and his breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened and he looked at Phantom as if he were the most unbelievable thing on Earth. He pointed toward Phantom and looked at Sam.

"Mommy, is that…Daddy?" He asked. Sam was taken a back for a while and she glanced at Tucker. He too was shocked.

"Yes, that's your daddy," she said, unable to believe what she had just said. Tucker continued looking shocked. Shaire leaned his head against Sam's chest and stared at Phantom.

"He's very cool. I hope I get to be like him one day," Shaire said softly. Sam's heart began to beat. No, she could not allow her son to become a ghost fighter. She didn't want him risking his life. She couldn't afford to sit at home and wonder how he was faring against the vicious ghosts. To make matters worse, he was only a quarter of a ghost, he could never be stronger than Phantom. And Phantom was not invincible. But she could not destroy his dreams, not yet.

"Fighting ghosts is not all that easy, Shai. People get hurt," she said, leaving the issue with those words. She trusted him to come up with a smart decision. She knew he was capable. Phantom groaned and shifted and then suddenly, without warning, he sprang up to his feet, his breathing hard and his eyes wide. Everyone looked up at him, eyebrows cocked.

"Took ya long enough," Shaire muttered just loud enough for Phantom to hear him. Phantom looked down and his expression relaxed. His eyes softened and he sat down in his seat. He saw Tucker and grinned at him.

"Morning daddy," Shaire said.

"Morning Shai," Danny answered. He leaned back in his seat then stiffened before his back could touch the back of the chair. He turned slowly to face Sam, his question evident in his eyes.

'How did he know that I was…me?' He asked. Sam smiled, a small smile as she hugged Shaire closer to her and kissed his head.

"I told you before, Danny. He knows everything," Sam said. Shaire was quick to agree, a bright smile adorning his features. Danny looked across from him and was greeted by a grinning Tucker.

"Dude, you look like…wow. You look worse than Sam. That should say something," Tucker said. Sam playfully glared at Tucker and Danny laughed.

"Morning to you too, Tuck," Danny said, extending his fist. Tucker touched Danny's fist with his own and then they went back to relaxing in their chairs.

"Good morning, Daniel," Sam purred. He turned to her and smiled a brilliant morning smile.

"You're probably the only one who can get away with calling me Daniel while I'm Phantom," he said, huskily. Sam did another one of her internal shivers and turned away from him. Her body ached to be against his. Phantom was thinking along the same line, but he pushed back the thought and started thinking how he and Sam could ever be friends. Just friends. His features took on a look of chagrin at the new thought. Was it possible? Even when they had been 'just friends', they had been closer than normal friends. In proximity at first and then in feelings. They had never been anything like normal. Now he was wondering if they could be like this without him haunting her room or her living with him.

'This is gonna suck,' he thought and flung his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Oh, how could I forget? Zoey woke up!" Tucker said, hitting himself in the head, his grin still intact.

"What?" Phantom and Sam exclaimed as Sam straightened up and Danny's head was now facing Tucker.

"Yeah, she's been up recently. She's ok now," Tucker said. Sam quickly placed Shaire on his feet and stood up.

"This is something you should have woken me up with. What time is it?" She asked, taking Shaire's hand.

"It's…umm…9:30," Tucker answered, looking at his watch.

"You wanna go and look for your big sister?" Sam asked Shaire. He nodded anxiously.

"Definitely. I heard what happened and I was…worried," he said, giving Sam a hurt expression. She looked at Tucker.

"Don't look at me, I didn't tell him the details," Tucker said.

"I know. He reads minds," Sam reassured Tucker.

"You're kidding me," Tucker said.

"It's true my friend. He is my child after all," Phantom said. He was also up, ready to go and look for Zoey.

"Maybe you should change back, Danny. You know that Zoey's terrified of ghosts," Sam said.

"Oh," was all Danny said as a circle of blinding light surrounded him. She wasn't used to his transformation. She had only seen it a few times. She closed her eyes while Shaire stared in awe at the circle breaking apart and moving along the length of his body, both circles going opposite ways. When Sam opened her eyes again, it was Danny that they saw. He stretched his muscles and everyone could hear them crick.

"Let's go. Are you coming, Tuck?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just wait until I get back some amount of sight. Damn, Danny. Why you gotta show off?" Tucker asked as he rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.

"Be glad you didn't wear contacts," Danny grinned.

~~~*~~~

"So, I can bring her home today?" Sam asked cautiously, making sure she was hearing the correct thing from Dr. Headley.

"Yes, Mrs. Nichols. She woke up sometime in the early morning, around 5 am and she hasn't been back to sleep yet. She's up and around and she wants to go home," Dr. Headley said.

"And you agree with her wanting to come home?" Sam continued her questioning.

"Do you think we'd be doing this if we did not agree?" He asked. Sam's eyes narrowed and her blood boiled.

"Probably you didn't know, but little Sammy's got a temper. So, for your good, watch the words you say around her," Danny cut in before Sam could say anything. She turned to glare at him.

"Thanks for the help Danny, but I can handle it myself. And for the record, I was not going to snap at this man," Sam said. Tucker. Danny and Shaire rolled their eyes.

"Right," they all said in unison. Sam ignored them and gave the doctor a fake smile.

"May I go and get her now?" She asked, her tongue twitching to warn the man about trying to degrade her intelligence.

"Yes, you may ma'am," the doctor said and begun leading the way to Zoey's room. The three boys followed her. Dr. Headley left them at the door and went off to his own business. Sam pushed the door to enter and rolled her eyes.

"Finally," she said through gritted teeth.

"Heard that," Danny whispered to her. She rolled her eyes again and sighed. Zoey was already dressed and waiting. They were no bags. The only things she owned in the room were the clothes on her back. As the door closed, Zoey turned to face them.

"I am saved! I was waiting hours for you guys to come get me! They didn't want me leaving without a parent or guardian," she grumbled, getting up from the bed and crossing her hands over her chest. She crossed the room to get to them and a big group hug was initiated.

"I can see that the hospital hasn't had a bad effect on you. It always gives me the creeps," Tucker said and shivered. Zoey smirked at him.

"Once afraid of hospitals, Uncle Tuck…always afraid of hospitals," Zoey said.

"I'm glad you're alive. So very, very glad,' Sam said, taking one of Zoey's hands.

"And I want to get you out of here," Danny said, grabbing her other hand and tugging her lightly toward the door, "now come on!"

"Zoe, are you sure you're ok?" Shaire asked, looking up at his sister with concerned eyes.

"Yes, I am. I'm positive that I can go home now. So don't worry Shai. I'll be fine," she smiled at him. Sam smiled at their exchange.

"Good, then we'll all go now, but…" Sam trailed off.

"I'll drive," Tucker said, "I brought the mini today. I was so expecting this," he beamed.

"Good, now we go home," Shaire said, pointing to the door.

"Yes! Let's go!" Zoey said and ran for the door. She flung it open and propelled herself outside in a show of her freedom. Sam walked out behind everybody, contentment filling her body. Zoey was alright and she had a plan apropos to Danny. Ok, it wasn't a definite plan, but she knew what she wanted and she was going to work for it. And she would get it. That was a sure thing.

As Sam closed the door behind her, she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned to see Dr. Headley stopping beside her.

'Great,' she mumbled internally.

"It seems today is your lucky day Mrs. Nichols. Your husband is free to go too," he smiled, his green eyes staring wickedly at her. Her eyes widened and for a moment she was speechless.

"What?" She managed not to scream. His smile only increased, if that was possible, and Sam swore that she saw his eyes glow. But she dismissed that. She was just losing it.

"He's all right now. No permanent damage and just like your daughter, he can't wait to get out of here and get home," Dr. Headley continued. Sam swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded to the man. She knew what would come next and it wouldn't be pretty. She would definitely be kicked out and divorced, possibly prosecuted and put in jail, but she was ready for it. The problem was, she hadn't expected it so soon. She had somehow thought, the day before, that by the time Ben could get out, she and Danny would have been a couple again. Unfortunately, that was not so. She wasn't worried. She had places she and her children could go. They would survive.

She turned to look at Danny. His eyes suggested that he was battling with a decision. She knew what this decision was and she hoped the outcome would be in her favour. She would make it turn in her favour. But she could also see the look of panic in his eyes and she could see that he was staring at Dr. Headley. She turned to the doctor, now thinking of him as untrustworthy. His eyes were no longer that familiar green. They were dark blue and Sam once again swallowed past a lump in her throat. It was happening again.

**Ahh, another cliffie. Somehow I always find one for my chapters. This chapter was longer than the others, but I had fun writing it, as I did the others and I hope you have fun reading it. So, what is happening? Seriously, what is happening? Lol! I guess we'll find out soon, huh? And somebody please tell me if I have any mistakes. Whether spelling or improper use of words!!**


	11. Cahoots

**I am really sorry for how long it took me to write this, but I got extremely stuck on this chapter and I had to rewrite it several times, 3 times to be exact. I just got hit big with writer's block and I'm not sure if I've recovered yet. But, now I am back! Unfortunately, this chapter sucks. I'm sorry, but it was the best I could do. **

**Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers: Extant, Thoughts-of-Nothingness, angel-of-the-obvious, ShortSweetN'ToThePoint, Mademoiselle Z, hauntedgal26, bloodmoon13, Flaming Water, Skaties and Dino Buttons. I hope I didn't forget anyone!!**

**Chapter 11: Cahoots**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but yes, I still need a new phone.**

Tucker pulled into Sam's garage and let out a sigh of relief. The ride home with Ben had been nothing but tense. He glanced over at the passenger's seat and Sam looked back at him.

"I trust you not to let anything happen to yourself. Be safe," Tucker said, concern showing in his eyes. Sam smiled a small smile and extended her arms to Tucker. He pulled up close to her and they embraced. Sam pressed her head against his as he closed his eyes and cuddled into her neck.

"I love you so much Tucker. Thanks for being my best friend," she said.

"Feels like we're saying goodbye," he whispered as they pulled away. Sam could see the tears behind his glasses and she laughed, trying to get rid of the feeling that something absolutely terrible was going to happen.

"We're not. I, personally, am not ready to say goodbye to you Tucker Foley. So fill up your gas tank and I'll see you here during the weekends," Sam said.

"Ok, I'll be here, no worries. I have to come visit my favourite niece and nephew," he said as he turned to face them. Chills ran down his spine as he came face to face with Ben. Ben didn't blink. He hadn't blinked since they had taken him from the hospital. His body seemed frozen as he had not moved a muscle since they had seen him. He was freaking everyone out. He forced his eyes to drift over to the children.

"We're your _only_ niece and nephew, Uncle Tuck," Zoey said, removing her earphones.

"You got me there," Tucker said.

"Ok, kids, say your goodbye's. Time to bring Ben inside," Sam said as she opened the door. Tucker glanced around at Danny who flung his door open also.

'Go get her man. Keep her safe,' Tucker thought as he saw Danny meet Sam in front of the car.

"Sam, I'm worried," Danny wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Don't be, I can take care of myself," she said, stopping in front of him.

"I know that, but it's not like this is a normal situation. There is a ghost after you, and he wants revenge. I don't think he'll have time for negotiating," Danny said. Sam looked at his face and wanted to reach up and smooth his worried eyebrows and kiss the twist of his lips into a smile. She wanted to hug him and tell him that nothing would happen and he should stop worrying, but she couldn't so she took his hand in hers and held it firmly.

"I know I'm in danger, and so are the kids, but I just want one night to settle things with Ben. Just one night. I am scared out of my wits about ghosts attacking me again and right now I am just hoping that they don't come tonight. I know, its suicide, but I will see you tomorrow Danny. I promise. And then you can have complete control over protecting us, plus, this gives you some time to make a big plan, like last time. Surprise them," she said, watching his thumb making patterns on her hand.

"I can't let you stay alone in that house, unprotected," Danny complained, unaware of the patterns he was making.

"It's just one night. I'll try not to die and like I said, make a big plan tonight, make them think you're not on to them that much and then you can catch them before they do anything serious, plus I won't be alone. I've got Zoey and Shaire…and Ben," Sam said. She thought her brave words were foolish. She was absolutely terrified of being without Danny. She had managed the first time around, but she had lived in terror and hatred for months with Vlad. She hadn't gotten hurt, Danny had swooped in and saved her, thankfully, but what would happen this time around? But she was following her instincts and something told her that something was off…with Ben. She had a theory and she was going to use the night to either prove it or totally dismiss it.

"No!" Danny said. He wouldn't allow her to have her way; her plan was life-threatening and stupid.

"Yes!" She said.

"I'll be here tonight Sam. I'll be here tonight and you can't tell me to leave," he said, biting back his anger. Sam opened her mouth to speak but closed it so that she could think. After a minute, she clapped Danny on the shoulder in a friendly gesture and beamed.

"Just like the old days," she said. Danny's lips curled into an uncertain smile. Was she accepting his offer of friendship? Sam let her hand fall down to her side, subtly brushing her hand against his biceps and Danny answered his question with a no. He let go of her hand and pushed his hair from his eyes.

"Good, I'll be there when Ben is fast asleep," he said. Sam nodded and continued to the other side of the car to unload Ben. Danny turned toward the car and saw Tucker mouthing to him. Danny put up a thumb and Tucker visibly relaxed.

Sam swung open the door and looked at Ben. Just looking at him brought back all those memories she never got to share with Danny. All those memories of the time she had spent with Vlad. She shivered slightly and rubbed the goose bumps on her arms. She gave Ben a fake smile even though he was not looking at her.

"We're home!" She said and grabbed his wheelchair. With one pull, she had yanked him out of the minivan and onto the rough cement. He landed with a hug jerk which almost sent him flying out of his seat. Sam grinned behind his back, his expression did not change.

"Bye Uncle Tuck, bye Uncle Danny," Zoey said as she propelled herself off the seat.

"Bye bye Uncle Tuck and Uncle Danny," Shaire said as he climbed off the seat. Sam raised an eyebrow at 'Uncle Danny'. The boy had some serious smarts. Danny didn't seem fazed by Shaire's new name for him. Sam was wondering if he had even heard it. Sam grabbed Ben's wheelchair again and pushed him roughly up to the front door.

"Bye Tuck, later Danny! Zoey, could you get the door?" Sam said as she turned away from the vehicle. Danny climbed in beside Tucker and both of them watched Sam disappear inside.

"You don't need to worry Tucker. I'll be here tonight. Nothing is going to happen," Danny said. Tucker started the van and Danny turned to him. Tucker smiled.

"Just like the old days," he said, repeating Sam's exact words.

~~~*~~~

Sam shoved Ben around the dining table and traveled to the refrigerator to find something sweet to eat. It would calm her down. Zoey and Shaire had run upstairs the instant they had entered. Now, Sam could not hear their footsteps. They were probably watching TV or sleeping. They were fine.

She repeated that to herself as she spied a generous slice of a black forest cake sitting on the shelf. She licked her lips and pulled it out. She made it to the table, forgetting to get something to drink. She placed her delicious slice of heaven on the table and went back for some water. She pulled the door of the refrigerator opened and inspected the shelves. She was having a hard time deciding between water and a passion fruit drink. She was never one to watch calories. She decided water would go best with something sweet and she snatched it up.

There was a growl and a plate shattering behind Sam and she spun around, heart pounding. Her cake was no longer where she had left it. She could see it splattered on a far wall, the plate it was in, shattered on the ground. Sam stopped breathing for a moment. How had that happened? She stared at Ben, her eyes narrowing, trying to catch what was wrong with him.

He hadn't moved, at least it looked like he hadn't moved. He was holding the same position as before, not one muscle out of place. Then suddenly, Sam couldn't breathe. It was as if a huge force was pushing against her lungs, cutting off her supply of air. She gasped for breath as she stared at Ben. Her fingers trembled and she dropped the water bottle, water splashing all over the floor. She could feel her heartbeat lose its regularity. She was losing consciousness, she couldn't let that happen. If she lost consciousness, she'd never get it back. She knew she was changing colour and the force was getting stronger and stronger, pushing heavier and heavier, killing her.

Her eyes moved to the ground, her knees following as her hands clutched at her chest. Her eyes drifted to Ben and for a moment her heartbeat quickened for on his face was the most devious look that Sam had ever seen. It was the face of evil. But that was for a moment, then it was gone and so was the force that had pushed against Sam's lungs. Her breathing was painful but the force had left so quickly that it was as if it had only been a hallucination, just like how it seemed that she had hallucinated Ben's evil smirk. Maybe she was losing her mind. She lay on the floor for a few minutes trying to breathe normally again. It wasn't easy, but soon she could inhale and exhale with only a slight jab in her chest. She scrambled to her feet, careful of the water. She touched her throat lightly and glared at Ben. He had to be involved in whatever plan there was. He had to. He was proving her theory right.

Ben was in cahoots with the ghosts.

~~~*~~~

"Mommy, I'm scared," Shaire whispered to her as she tucked him in later that night. She sat gently on the edge of his bed and looked softly at her little boy.

"What are you scared of?" She asked, brushing his hair away from his face.

"Ghosts," he whispered and looked around him as if he was certain that one would pop up in his room. Sam swallowed painfully.

"There is no need to be afraid, Shaire. Danny will protect us," she said, letting her hand rest on his head. Shaire shook his head.

"No, he can't. He won't always be here, mommy," he said solemnly. It was growing difficult to Sam to know that her son knew everything.

"Can you feel them close-by?" She whispered. He shook his head again.

"I can't sense ghosts," he said.

"Well, don't worry about that. You have your special skill and I love you, ever since you were in here," Sam said and patted her stomach. Shaire didn't smile, he only stared at her. It made her uncomfortable, like he knew something she did not.

"Be careful, mommy. I love you," he said and he sat up in bed and gave Sam a kiss on the cheek. She touched her cheek tenderly, fear and adoration mixing to produce an unnatural emotion.

"I will be. Goodnight. Time you went to sleep and stopped worrying so much. You're only 7 years old," she said. She kissed him on the cheek and turned off his lights. She left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

"A 7 year old that knows everything that's going to happen," Shaire whispered.

Sam stepped into the hall and saw Zoey on her hands and knees obviously searching for something.

"Umm, Zoe…what are you looking for?" Sam asked. Normally Zoey knew where everything was, whether her room was tidy or not.

"I just had my guitar earrings sitting on my jewelry box 2 minutes ago. I turn my back and abracadabra…they disappear. So, I'm retracing my steps to see if I've lost my mind or if I've become extremely careless," Zoey said, standing up.

"Good luck with that and goodnight," Sam said.

"I'm gonna go look in my room for it, it has been a while since I've cleaned in there." Zoey held her nose and pointed to her door. Sam smiled.

"Well, get to it then."

"Ok, ok. Goodnight to you too mom," Zoey said, and with those final words she left, closing the door behind her, never to be opened again…until it was morning.

"I don't expect you to go to school tomorrow, Zoey!" Sam yelled.

"I had no intention of going!" Zoey yelled back, making Sam smile.

Sam continued to walk toward her room…well…the room she was to share with Ben. She stopped mid-way there and quickly decided to sleep in the guest room downstairs. She wasn't going to play the game again and if Ben didn't want to talk, she would take action. She started toward the stairs, a voice telling her not to approach it. She brushed it off as paranoia. She held on to the railing and stepped on the first step.

"Sam?" It was spoken softly, as if asking a question, with the littlest touch of an English accent. Sam turned around and saw Ben in his wheelchair, expression soft. He was responding to his emotions now. Good, now they would talk.

"Sam," he said this time more firmly. It was in the normal preppy Ben voice that she was used to. It was the first time he had spoken since he had been back.

"Yes," Sam said harshly.

"I haven't forgotten," he said and his soft expression changed so swiftly into pure evil. She knew something bad was going to happen and her grip on the railing tightened. The first push was vicious. Sam felt as if someone had run a fire extinguisher into her stomach. She lost her footing on the stairs but her hand to the railing prevented her from falling. Ben stared at her, relaxed and looking evil. She felt something cover her mouth harshly and rip her hand from the railing. She was panicking as her hand slipped off. Her heart was going a million miles per seconds and her hands were trying to grab at something, but she could hold onto nothing, not even the creature that was holding onto her.

The second thrust was even worse. She felt like a log had been used to do the job. And it did, she went flying down the stairs and everything seemed to slow down as she tried to grab but nothing came up. She was flying way above the steps and that force still held her mouth. She now knew what Zoey's fear of ghosts felt like when it had become real. She couldn't even start crying as she fell on her side, her arm breaking the fall. She opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could, but not a sound escaped. She wriggled on the floor in utter pain and tears streamed down her eyes, but no one could hear a thing. It was the most horrifying thing she had even experienced.

Ben came to the stairs, looking down at her. His maniacal smile widened and deepened and he had to control himself from bursting out into laughter. Sam looked up at him and she pushed the thoughts out of her mind and into his corrupted one. She knew he could hear them.

"Goodnight, Samantha," he said and turned the chair away. She lay on the floor, switching to her back which thankfully she had not fallen on. But falling on her right hand wasn't much easier. It hurt to move it and she was almost sure that it was broken. She tried to get up, but her legs weren't able to support her so she sat on the floor and cradled her arm. She would be sure to go to the hospital in the morning, but she would not keep anything from Danny. She would tell him the moment he came into the house. She sat there for a long time never realizing that the groans of pain were hers. Then she tried to get up and managed to. She hobbled to the guest room, closing the door tightly behind her.

'I need to tell Danny. Hurry and get here!. I now know what I need to know. I will not put anyone that I love in danger,' she thought as she lay on the bed. Her eyes began closing just minutes after she had climbed into the bed. She couldn't keep up the fight. In a matter of minutes, Sam had drifted off to sleep.

**I feel like I've robbed you. I've robbed you of a page (this chapter is shorter than the others) and I've robbed you of a good read. I don't think my reviews will be that good for this chappie, but if anyone has any suggestions about writer's block or how to make the rest of this story awesome, please share it!**

**I've already started rewriting Boarding School: Sumer Time, but it'll have a new name named (hehehe) Boarding School: Summer Edition! Let me give you a little peek…hopefully I don't change it.**

"_I don't have a problem with being alone. It's…it's who I am. And reading books is not bad," Sam said softly. Lily rolled her eyes._

'_Everybody needs somebody, Sammie. And books are bad when you use them to replace people and experiences.'_

'_So what if I've never kissed a boy before? That means nothing,' Sam defended herself._

'_It means a lot Sammie, that's why this summer is going to be different.'_

'_Sure. Different.'_

**So, tell me what you guys think. I will be deleting the original ****Boarding School**** (BS) story. Admit it, it sucks.**

**Sorry I didn't get to reply to some of your reviews, it's just crazy mad round these ends.**


	12. Unnoticeable

**Welcome to chapter 12! Only 4 more chapters left for this story. I hope I make it over 100 reviews and hopefully another of my stories will go over 200 reviews. Can anyone help me with that? Ahh, it's almost done. I can hardly believe it. Two years of hard work finally over and I am so proud of my two stories!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed, the people who love me through all my hard times! Who hooo!!!: Magma823, Skaties, Thoughts-of-Nothingness, Devilchild93, hauntedgal23, Jessi, ShortSweet'NToThePoint, Extant, DinoButtons and bloodmoon13!!!**

**I'm sorry I didn't get to personally reply to your reviews and I hope that none of you has a problem with me posting them publicly. If you do, I am truly sorry.**

**Chapter 12: Unnoticeable**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, but I might own a new phone soon!**

Sam awoke with a jump, her heart racing until she realized that she was ok, she was alive. She touched her arm and winced at the pain, she would have to go to the hospital or something. Her eyes drifted around the unfamiliar room and she slid off the bed. When her feet were lightly brushing the floor she remembered and jumped off the bed and ran to the curtains. She flung them open and looked outside, disappointed. Danny was not there.

She turned away and ran her good hand through her long, tangled hair. Had he been here at all during the night?

'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Sam! Why did you fall asleep so quickly!' She chastised herself as she hurried into the bathroom. She pulled her brush through her hair and caught it in a ponytail. As she brushed her teeth, her imagination was running out of control and she began to worry about her children. She was wondering if while she had slept, they had been murdered.

She was glad that her feet were no longer wobbly as she raced up the stairs. She got to Zoey's room first and knocked viciously on it. She didn't wait for a reply, she flung the door open and marched in.

"Mom? What are you doing in here? And so early too. I was actually sleeping you know," a sleepy voiced Zoey said as she sat up in her bed throwing her covers back. Sam let out a loud sigh of relief as she plopped beside Zoey and did her best to pull her into a hug.

"Oh my goodness. You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now," Sam said into Zoey's short hair. Zoey rolled her eyes and pushed Sam away gently.

"What's wrong with you?" Zoey asked as she looked Sam straight in the eyes. Sam smiled.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just glad you're ok," Sam said. Zoey was her confidant, the person who knew the most details of Sam's life next to Tucker. Sam had never hidden anything from her before. But this time, she knew that she had to. There was no telling how Zoey would react knowing that they were being haunted by ghosts.

"You're acting even stranger than usual Miss Samantha, but you're not stopping me from getting all my 8 hours of sleep this fine morning. The morning that I don't have to go to school. Did I tell you that I love you yet?" Zoey asked. Sam laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to tell me for me to know, now go back to sleep. I'll be heading out for a bit, so you're in charge," Sam said. Zoey groaned.

"Does that mean that I have to cook and take care of Ben? Please say no!"

"Ben doesn't need our help. If he wants something, he'll go get it himself."

"Good, cuz even if you did tell me that I had to take care of him, I'd lock him in his room until someone eventually asked for him," Zoey smirked. Sam was thinking that Zoey's idea was actually a good one.

"I'll see you a bit later. I'm going to go check on Shai," Sam said. Zoey made an unrecognizable sound and pulled the covers over her head. Sam smiled and left her room.

Before she could even knock on Shaire's door, he opened it and stared at her.

"This is starting to freak me out," Sam said.

"The door thing was just a coincidence," Shaire smiled. Sam smiled back, she couldn't help it.

"I'm glad you're awake. You might be late going to school today, I have something to do before I bring you to school," Sam said.

"I'm not going to school," Shaire said.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, stunned, "are the children being mean to you? Or even worse, the teachers? I didn't even get to ask about your first day of school."

"I wanna stay home with Zoey," he said. Sam sighed and leaned against the wall. Unconsciously, she had leaned against her right arm. She moved away from the wall with a cry of pain and held her arm to herself. Shaire's eyebrows immediately furrowed with concern and he looked much older than a 7 year old.

"Mommy…what's wrong with your arm?" He asked.

"I thought you knew everything," Sam said, immediately regretting it, she was forgetting that he was a child.

"No, I thought so too, but no" he answered wisely. Sam sighed and threw her head back a bit.

"Something pushed me down the stairs last night and I broke my arm," she whispered. His eyes widened and he gripped the door tightly. Sam could see his eyes glaze over with tears.

"It'll be alright, I going to see Danny right now and we are finally going to get rid of this ghost that haunts us," she said.

"Mommy," he whimpered. Tears started to stream down his face and he reached out to hug Sam. His arms clamped around her thighs as he pressed his head to her legs. He was trying to keep his sobs silent. She reached down with her good hand and smoothed his hair back. How could he have not seen it, he was wondering. If he had not seen this coming, what else did he not know about?

"Take care of Zoey and watch out for Ben, I have to find Danny. I can't allow anything else to happen," Sam said. She bent to kiss the top of his head and then she turned away from him, determined to carry out her mission.

~~~*~~~

She drove into the parking lot of the observatory, her right arm in a brace. She had made a quick stop at the doctor's office. Having a lot of money had its advantages. The doctor hadn't even asked what had caused her injury.

She pushed open the door and stepped out. She locked the car and ran into the building.

"Excuse me, miss. May I help you?" A security guard asked as she pushed the glass doors open and stepped inside.

"Yes, I need to speak with Danny Fenton right now. It's an emergency," she said.

"I'll go get him then, please wait over there," he said, pointing to some seats against the wall. Sam quickly walked over to them and sat down. She crossed her legs and started tapping her foot nervously. She was praying that her children were alright. She was so anxious to get back to them, to get them out of harm's way. But there was no way she could have brought them with her. Zoey would have been freaked out to the extreme and gone insane when she had found out that a ghost had hurt Sam. And she had a strange feeling about Shaire. He wanted to stay home with Zoey for a reason and Sam wasn't going to let him face that reason alone. She glanced up and saw Danny sprinting over to her.

"Good morning, Sam," he smiled as he sat next to her. He seemed happy. Why was he happy?

"Did you come by last night?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did, but you were asleep so I didn't wake you. Oh and the weirdest thing happened…" he began, Sam cut him off.

"What happened?" She asked, pulling herself closer to him. He pulled back a little, wondering why she was so wound up.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," he smiled, "I was surprised to come by last night and not sense a ghost. There are no ghosts in the whole of Cambridge. I checked it out less than half an hour ago," he added.

"What? Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive," he said. Danny's happy mood was not affecting Sam. She was even more anxious and suspicious now than before.

"Danny, check again. You have to check again. A ghost is in my house," she hissed under her breath.

"There are no gho…what happened to your hand?" He asked, just noticing the brace.

"Something pushed me down the stairs last night and I fell on my arm. That same thing almost choked me to death when I had just gotten home yesterday. It was absolutely terrifying! Having something invisible push against your lungs, and not from the outside, from the inside. I couldn't even fight it off," she whispered, choking on the words. Danny's eyes widened and he gripped the chair.

"It attacked you?" He asked, trying to control his temper and his voice.

"Yes," she replied. She watched his expression. He looked like he was trying to control his thoughts and the words he wanted to say. Like he wanted to control what was happening, but he just couldn't.

"Let's go," he said. Sam remained seated, taken aback by his tone of voice.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked.

"NOW!" He yelled and the few persons around them turned immediately to see what the scene was about.

"You cannot shout at me Danny! Or order me around!" She yelled back, not one to step back from a challenge. He ignored her and grabbed her by the hand. He pulled her up and after him, the look on his face terrifying her.

"Sam, I wouldn't have shouted at you if it wasn't for a reason," he said, his voice a little calmer as he slammed through the doors and outside.

"I didn't see your reason, Danny and I still don't," she said as she unlocked her car.

"Well, I did have a reason and it was damn good. I'm driving," he said. He pushed her over to the passenger seat and sat in the driver's seat. He didn't even put on his seatbelt, he slammed on the accelerator and sped off, the sudden plunge forward pushing Sam back into her seat.

"What the hell is wrong with you? A minute ago you were so damn happy because no ghosts were in town! What are you worrying about now?" She asked in a raised voice.

"Sam, I did not sense any ghosts this morning, neither did I sense any yesterday evening. I haven't sensed one since your car accident," he replied, voice unusually calm. Sam sat, staring at him, utter shock crossing her features. What was he saying?

"What…what does that mean?" She asked, quite aware of how stupid she sounded. It could only mean one thing.

"It means this ghost is flying under the radar. I can't detect him, and I know why," he said, teeth barred as he sped down the road to Sam's house. Sam slid down her seat, her heartbeat dangerous. She realized what Danny was getting at and it was more than shocking. She felt as if she couldn't breathe as everything came into focus. She now knew why Shaire really wanted to stay home so badly and why Danny could not sense this ghost. And most of all, she knew who the strange blonde haired man who had caused her accident was. She felt helpless as her vision swam and she put her hand to her head in vicious realization.

"I...I…I can't believe. I thought that after all these years…why…Shaire…Zoey…danger," she said, incoherency caused by fear.

"7 years is never enough time for any ghost. They'll come back if their business isn't finished," Danny hissed as he drove down her street.

"I thought you had killed that son of a bitch!" Sam said, hands now covering her face, hiding her tears.

"I thought I had killed them, both of them. How wrong I was. I won't make the same mistake again," Danny said as he stopped outside her gate.

"Open the gate!" Sam yelled out her window, but it seemed the security guards who were supposed to be managing the gates weren't there. Their booths were empty. Sam pushed open her car door and rushed over to a booth. She opened the door and stepped in…only to step back out almost immediately, hand over her mouth, eyes wide with fright. Danny noticed her expression and jumped out of the car, not caring to close the door. He ran up to Sam, stopping when he saw what she was seeing. He swore under his breath as he saw the security guard lying on the floor, blood splashed everywhere. He couldn't tell how the man had died; his body was covered with blood. He left Sam standing there, staring, and went to check out the other booth.

"Damn it," he whispered as he covered his mouth. He was feeling nauseous as he looked at the scene. It was worse than the other one. This man had been decapitated and de-limbed. He slammed the door and walked over to Sam who was still stuck staring, tears running down her cheeks. He pulled her away and pushed her into the car.

"The other one is dead too, isn't he?" She asked Danny as he slammed the door shut. His silence caused more tears to fall. He left her there and stormed up to the gate. Without hesitation, he burned a huge hole through the gates, anger determining his every move.

Sam was a mess. She knew it and she was ashamed. It wasn't time to cry and hide in the seat of a car. If this was what had happened to just her guards in such a short time…what had happened to her children? She looked up at Danny, tears gone, and made up her mind to walk into the house and confront the ghost responsible. She was about to open her door when Danny came flying towards her, landing on the windshield and smashing it. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw who had done it.

"Aww, Daniel, it has been so long, son. I see you and Samantha are somehow still together. I'll have to do something about that, won't I now, young badger?" The powerful ghost spoke as he looked at both Sam and Danny. Danny pushed himself from the pieces of smashed windshield glass and slid down the hood, ready to face the ghost he had not seen for seven whole years.

**Am I writing under the correct rating? Somebody please tell me. And I know what you're thinking…you all are going to have to wait for chapter 13 to really find out who this ghost is. It's time for another preview of Boarding School: Summer Edition! But this time it's from chapter 2! I'm working on a preview from my new story in every chapter of Love Me that I'm gonna put out. Is that a good idea…hmm…I wonder…**

_Everything seemed to go pretty slow. Val turned to her and winked as she approached a table with two boys sitting around it. She could identify Tucker immediately, and it wasn't because he was facing her. Dark skin, forest green eyes hidden behind glasses and a beret on his head. He wasn't bad looking himself. Val slid in next to a surprised Tucker and his mouth was slightly open. Then he turned to look at Sam, then at the person sitting in front of him, the guy whose face Sam could not see. Sam held her breath as she slid in next to the strange boy. She smiled and turned to him. Her heart stopped._

**Since I couldn't get to reply to my reviewers, here it goes. I hope those who reviewed see this.**

**Thoughts-of-Nothingness – Review Reply For Chapter 11**

Thanks soooooooo much for reviewing and I'm glad you didn't think it was that bad, made me feel much better and more motivated to continue. And I think…I hope with all my heart that I can update quickly, I'm working on it now. Thanks for saying you liked the action, I was kinda worried about that.

**hauntedgal26 – Review Reply For Chapter 10**

Well, remember when Tucker was rubbing his eyes cuz Danny transformed, I'm thinking that if he was wearing contacts then that would make it harder to rub so vigourously. It worked. The whole aim was to be confused. I just hope I can clear this up. Thanks for the review!!

**Review Reply For Chapter 11**

Aww, thank you so much! Aww, I rock. Thank you for saying that it wasn't a waste because I definitely thought it was the worst chapter I have ever written! And you should get an account or sign in, makes it easier to get messages to you :).

**Devilchild93 – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

I envy you. I wish I could go on a sweet vacation, but instead I am stuck at home with next to nothing to do! But I guess that makes you happy…me at home with nothing else to do but write, write and write. And it's ok about the reviewing thing, if you can't do it every chapter I won't kill you…maybe :D

**ShortSweet'NToThePoint – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

I share your feelings about Ben as I'm sure everyone does! I really, really, really hate him! And thank you for saying it was a good chapter, I feel so loved and supported! Yes, Ben is definitely evil, just you wait and see what he plans to do. Real evil.

**Extant – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

Lol! I got the whole 'BS' thing when I was writing it. The coincidence is just…strange, let's hope the second 'BS' is better than the first. Cross your fingers.

You really think it's one of the better chapters? *Aww, gives you big hug*, thanks so much! I used to read until 4 in the morning, so you're not the only one who likes to do that. :)

**Flaming Water – Review Reply for Chapter 10**

I am truthfully honoured and really appreciative of you saying that the chapter had awesome content. And I am worrying that I made some MAJOR mistake but it seems either I didn't make any or there were so insignificant that they aren't noticed. And thanks for actually reading my A/Ns. I didn't think anyone did. And since you asked about pushing Ben out a window…I'll see what I can do :D

**bloodmoon13 – Review Reply for Chapter 10**

Don't worry, that'll come soon. :D!!!!

**DinoButtons – Review Reply for Chapter 10**

I named it 'Again' because ghosts are after Sam…again. Thanks for reviewing!!

**Review Reply for Chapter 11**

Of course I have to reply to your review, aren't you a loyal reviewer? I wouldn't wanna lose any of my reviewers! I love you and them all sooooooooo much!! Seems you like the new version of the story I'm working on, I've been writing more and while doing that becoming confused about which chapter of Love Me I've just posted. LOL! I know, funny! And yes, even better than Jack :D. I know you luv my cliffies!!

**Jessi – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

I like making things confusing, challenges me as well as you and sometimes, keeps you, the reader hooked! Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it so much! Thanks for loving the chapter and for making me feel like the best person ever!

**Skaties – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

Aren't my chapters always evil…thanks for reviewing and just making me wanna write more!!

**Magma823 – Review Reply for Chapter 11**

I wanna cry. Thanks for still liking my fic and for reviewing and would you believe it, only 7 more reviews until I get to 100 reviews. I feel proud of myself. Thanks for making that a possibility!


	13. Partners

**I know that in the last chapter there were more author's notes than story, but forgive me. I hope you read them, they happen to be VERY important. I need reviews! I have chapter 14 ready to respond to them!**

**Thanks to all my lovely, 'tell it like it is' reviewers: bloodmoon13, angel-of-the-obvious, ShortSweet'NToThePoint, Magma823, RenesmeScarlett, Jessi (my 100****th**** reviewer!!! Yayyy!!!) AND THIS CHAPPIE IS DEDICATED TO SKATIES WHO WELL, MADE ME POST THIS!!**

**I now have a hundred and one reviews! Thank you all for contributing to it!! I love you all so much!**

**Chapter 13: Partners**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim my ownership of the amazing Danny Phantom series…and also the new phone I want. **

In front of them stood the mighty Vlad Masters. Sam narrowed her eyes at the image and Danny growled loudly.

"Very funny, Tony. We know it's you behind that camouflage," Danny yelled. The ghost laughed loudly and eerily as his image of Vlad faded, replaced by the same man Sam had seen in the middle of the road and the same man Danny had spotted at the park. Sam was outraged. She stepped out of the car angrily and ran toward the evil ghost.

"You bastard! How dare you come back after all these years? And how dare you threaten my family! I'll kill you! I'll murder you right now!" Sam yelled, her voice filling every particle of air around them. She was steaming mad. Danny grabbed onto her arm and she turned around to him viciously, using her nails to graze his restraining hand. He stared into her eyes, trying to tell her that he had it under control, that it was no use doing what she was doing. What he knew was that the four thin lines on his hand could have been deep gorges, the look on her face said that.

"No. You will not fight. I won't let you," Danny grumbled. It was not a suggestion, it was a command. There was no room for disobedience. Sam didn't answer, she was trying to stare him down, trying to show that she could and would do whatever the hell she wanted.

"This is sickening, love…yuck," Camouflage said and sent a plasma blast after them unexpectedly. Danny moved out of the way, pulling Sam with him. As it passed her, she could feel the very heat of it scorching her. Her heart started to beat three times the normal rate. She landed uncomfortably on Danny, fear and adrenaline pumping around her body instead of blood. She had limited experience on the battlefield, but it was more than what most people had. She had been in danger of being killed before and she had survived. She would do it again and bring with her the people that she loved the most.

"Go get Shaire and Zoey! Run! Run!" Danny yelled as he pulled her up with him suddenly. He transformed into Phantom, no light show, and pushed Sam off. Her feet picked up immediately and she ran as fast as she could, tears welling in her eyes. Surprisingly, Camouflage let her through, a smirk on his face all the time. What was going on in his mind?

"You just did the worst thing, halfa. Now I have her in the perfect place! I didn't even have to kidnap her like what Vlad did to your parents. What would my life be without bait," Camouflage boasted, a tinge of his accent in his voice. Phantom ignored him as he stood defensively, ready for any attack. Phantom was burning with fury and his arms and legs twitched, anxious to choke and kill the ghost who was threatening his family.

"Sam is safe inside, with her kids and when I'm finished, I'll go and find Ben!" Phantom hissed. Camouflage smiled even wider.

"So, she didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Phantom spat.

"Ben is in on all of this. Didn't that smart brain of yours figure it out halfa?" Camouflage asked, speaking in a tone that clearly was calling Phantom an idiot. The halfa was shocked and Camouflage took the chance to attack. He let out a barrage of plasma blasts, hitting Phantom three times in the chest before he could put up a small shield.

"You son of a piece of shit!" Phantom yelled and attacked, charging Camouflage and crashing him through the gates, landing on the driveway. Phantom brought his right fist back and pummeled it into Camouflage's face. When he raised his fist again, the revengeful ghost had disappeared. Phantom did a back flip unto his toes, extending his senses as far as they could go, trying to find the invisible threat. He caught his opponent a second before he slammed his two feet into his back.

Phantom stopped his fall with his hands, immediately using them to push himself into the air and barely avoiding decapitation by ectoplasm. He floated in the air, looking down at Camouflage, wide-eyed. He had definitely used the past seven years wisely. He had managed to manipulate his ectoplasm to the point that it was turned into a sword, a dangerously sharp sword. There was a dangerous glint in Camouflage's eyes, confidence in his every stride.

"You're rusty, halfa! I'll kill you now," Camouflage said. He propelled himself into the air, spinning slowly, accelerating with height. Phantom stretched his ghost muscles and prepared to put up a shield. He projected it outward, trying to stop Camouflage before he could reach him. It didn't work. The whirling blur broke the shield and headed straight for Phantom. He took a deep breath, summoning his ghostly wail. He opened his mouth and only a cough came out.

'What the he…?' He began to ask himself, but Camouflage slammed into him. Phantom could feel the sharp sword slicing him all over. Blood and ectoplasm flowed freely. He winced in pain as he went crashing into the driveway, sending concrete flying all around and creating a decent sized dent. He pushed himself out of the hole, cursing himself for his obvious weakness. He had spent seven years out of the view of ghosts and those seven years had definitely had an impact on him. He couldn't even read Camouflage's mind. The ghost had put up a strong mind block. He looked up and saw the wicked ghost heading straight for him.

"Shit," Phantom mumbled as Camouflage dived right into him, driving him even deeper into the ground. Phantom could feel the stones bang against his head as Camouflage sent him six feet under.

When he opened his eyes, the sky was very far up and he could see Camouflage staring down at him.

'Wow, he's good,' Phantom thought as he tried to get to an upward position, but Camouflage acted before he did, sending several huge ecto plasmic blasts down the hole, pushing Phantom even further down with the impact of each one. Phantom's chest hurt and his breathing was painful. He clawed himself quickly into a staggering stand, anxious to get out of the hellhole. He could feel gravity pushing him down as he headed straight upwards, ready to meet Camouflage.

"Ha, I don't think so," the evil ghost said. He pushed another plasma blast down the hole, a burning red blast. Phantom immediately began to sweat. If this blast touched him, he'd be burnt to a crisp within a second. He gathered some ecto-plasm in his hands and immediately converted it to ice. He sent it up to meet Camouflage's fiery blast.

Camouflage could feel the coldness of Phantom's blast and he did something so trivial that he cursed himself for it the moment it happened. He sneezed and lost focus on pushing down his fiery blast. Phantom smirked and diminished Camouflage's blast, finally flying out of the hole. Camouflage swore colourfully and before Phantom could do anything, the evil ghost sent out a telekinetic wave and pushed Phantom away from him and crash! Straight into the house. Phantom heard a scream of pain. Sam flashed through his head.

Sam slammed the door behind her with her left hand and ran up the stairs.

"Shaire! Zoey! Shaire! Zoey!" She yelled frantically. She pushed open Zoey's door, hitting her arm on the door's frame. She ignored the pain and rushed inside, looking anywhere she thought children could hide. Under the bed, in the closet and she even looked in the clothes drawers. No one, not even a note was in there. She was close to hysterical now and she tried to calm herself as she moved to Shaire's room, hoping and praying with all her strength that they were there. They weren't. She screamed in frustration, tension and fear building inside of her. She couldn't find her children. Where were they? She thought of going up into the attic and gulped. The last thing she wanted to see were her children hanging from the rafters of the attic. She pushed the thought away. They were alive. They had to be.

She started crying as she went up the stairs, three at a time. She flung the door open and rushed in. Nobody. The attic was as empty as it had ever been. She could not place her memories up here because many of her best memories were with Danny.

She felt like collapsing on the floor and crying until she could no longer cry any more, then maybe after that she could challenge Camouflage to a fight…or Ben if she ever ran into him. Instead she stood still, trying to figure out her next move. She would search the house from top to bottom. She would leave no room unsearched.

"I see you are back, Samantha and you've got a little brace for your arm," a familiar voice said behind her. She spun around, fury lacing her voice and interweaving itself into her face.

"You son of a damn drunk bitch! Where are my children? I will cut you into little tiny pieces and shred you if you don't tell me where they are, right now!" Sam spat. She was shaking with anger, all ties to self-control almost gone. If he said one thing, just one thing that she did not agree with, she would kill him, mercilessly.

"Oh, Samantha, sweetheart. Do you think I would hurt the adopted freak and your little boy, the quarter ghost? You must be losing it, I need them for…reasons," Ben said, standing akimbo. Sam's eyes widened. How did he know that? HOW?!

"How did you know?" She asked, in a dangerously low voice. He smiled, innocently.

"How else could I find out? Someone told me. Someone very romantic and heavenly, ooh, if I wasn't in love with somebody else, I would have him," Ben said huskily. Sam's eyes widened even more and she clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to deal with everything.

"Him?" She asked. Ben nodded.

"Yes, I am in love with Daniel. I have been every moment since I met him. He's just so…grrr," Ben giggled, "but Tony, he came up with this whole idea. I get to have Danny as my lover and he gets to have Shaire and Danny as his henchmen…or servants, whatever you want to call them," Ben smiled, leaning against the wall, lost in memory. Sam glanced about furtively. She was on the verge of panicking. There was absolutely nothing she could use as a weapon in the room. She only had a hand and her feet. She would have to use them well.

"How did you know Tony?" Sam asked.

"He was my lover, but…wait a second, why am I answering all your questions? When people are dead they don't need answers!" Ben laughed. Sam swallowed again. This wasn't going to be good. Her mind wasn't even registering that Ben was gay…

"You're gay?" Sam exclaimed, shocked.

"Actually, I like to think of myself as bisexual but it took you so long to figure everything out, Samantha and here I thought I was the dense one, living with a woman for seven years and not knowing about her fling with the man I love!" Ben yelled. Sam could see the danger in his eyes. He would attack any time now. She got into a defensive position, ready and waiting. She knew what was going on now. They were using the same tactic as before. Kidnap her and force Danny to do what they wanted, only, they were taking it a step further.

She could even guess why Ben had joined Tony. He had hated her before, when she had pushed him down the stairs, but now hate could not describe what he felt, for her lover was his hopeful lover. He wanted Danny for himself and he wanted Sam out of the picture. Maybe they wouldn't kidnap her, maybe they would just kill her and get it over with. But, how would they get Danny to work for them. And what about Zoey? What would happen to Zoey? She started panicking again and this time, charged Ben.

He grabbed her around the waist and flung her down on the floor, landing on top of her and knocking the air from her lungs. She rolled over on him, but he rolled over again, putting her in her first position. She did her best to elbow him with her good hand, but he wouldn't let go. His hands were squeezing into her waist and they were flailing about on the floor.

Sam gritted her teeth and used her fingernails to drive four deep gorges across one hand. He yelped in pain and removed his hand. Sam rolled off of him and continued rolling until she was a good thre feet away. She sprang up, Ben clutching his bleeding arm as he too got up. She ignored the skin under her nails. She also ignored the pain of a missing nail. It was stuck in Ben's flesh. She charged him again, this time running, and drop kicked him in the chest, she hoped a few of his ribs were broken. She had worn combat boots that day.

She landed on her good side, thank God and she tried to get up, but Ben had grabbed her foot. She used the other foot, trying to kick him off, but he caught it too and she could feel him pulling her toward the stairs. She yelled as loudly as she could. There was nothing to hold onto. He would throw her down the steps.

He pulled her through the doorway and kicked her in the stomach, then on her damaged arm. She yelled in pain. A yell that Phantom heard clearly and even Camouflage could hear it. Sam reflexively curled into a ball giving Ben an advantage. He positioned her quickly to go rolling down the stairs, but as he pushed her, she reached out her two feet and grabbed his feet. He went tumbling down the stairs with her.

She yelled in pain again, tears flowing down her cheeks heavily, barely realizing the hole in the house. Zoey's room was gone and in the hall lay Phantom. He quickly got up and stared at Sam and Ben on the ground.

"You bastard!" Phantom yelled as he stormed over to them. He was past furious now. Nothing could stop him from killing both Ben and Tony. Before he could jump on Ben, however, Camouflage dived into him causing more crashing through walls. They landed downstairs in the kitchen. Camouflage blasted Phantom through the wall, taking the fight back outside.

Sam couldn't move, she honestly couldn't move. He felt as if her entire body was broken and as if her right arm would have to be amputated. She couldn't feel it. Ben was in pain too, but she knew he would get up soon and do what he had planned.

"Shaire! Zoey!" She yelled. No answer. She called again. Still no answer.

"Where are my kids you bastard?" Sam yelled at Ben, her voice losing its strength and yielding to her sobs. A door opened and a soft voice drifted to Sam's ears.

"Mommy?" A shaky, small voice said a little way up the hall. She heard Shaire's footsteps moving toward her and she smiled through her tears. He was alive!

"Are you hurt, honey?" She asked. He fell to his knees and embraced her, tears in his eyes.

"I'm fine, mommy. So is Zoey, she's just freaking out a lot about the ghost," Shaire said.

"Where's Zoey?" Sam asked.

"She's in Ben's room. I was in there too," he said.

"Shut up you little rodent!" Ben said and picked up Shaire by the shirt.

"Leave him alone!" Sam cried. She couldn't bear to have Shaire hurt in front of her own eyes.

"Let's make a deal. I won't harm him if you surrender," Ben smirked. Sam didn't even have to think about it.

"Yes, yes. Just leave him and Zoey alone," Sam said tenderly. Shaire was flailing about, trying to kick or punch Ben. Ben laughed and dumped Shaire on the floor. He turned his back to the seven year old and got a small plasma blast right in his butt. He turned around angrily to the child and kicked him in the face…at least he tried to. Shaire dodged it and stood up, ready to fight.

"Rodent! If I can't kill you, I will kill her! Now get back in the room!" Ben yelled. Shaire looked between his mother and Ben. He dropped his fighting stance. Ben lifted Sam, and flung her over his shoulder, treating her as something inanimate.

Sam was glad to see Zoey on the floor, even though she was hyperventilating and trying not to have some kind of attack. She was crying.

"Mom," Zoey said through trembling lips as Ben flung Sam on the bed and tied her hands and her feet.

"Hi, Zoe," Sam said.

"I'm scared," Zoey whispered. Ben's hand slammed into her cheek and it flung her onto her side. His foot pressed into her back, making her eat carpet.

"Shut up, bitch! You're the least important one here! We don't need you! You don't belong with them!" Ben said, trying to make her feel worthless. It was working. He kicked her in the ribs and left the room.

Sam was crying. How could he kick a 14 year old like that? What kind of monster was the bitch? She could hear Zoey's silent crying on the floor, but she couldn't reach over and touch her. She felt responsible for all of it. Her sobs became silent as Shaire rested his head on her leg.

**Wow, intense, right? I am expecting a whole lot of reviews, just to get your feedback about how you liked or hated this chapter. Yes, I am excited! You guys find out so much in this little chappie! Please, please, please tell me what you think and how it went!!! I need to know! Please review! I am so excited to get them! And please let me know if the fight scenes are good or if they need work! PLEASE!**

**Ok, here is your preview!! I am so spoiling you. No more after today…maybe.**

_She leaned over and nuzzled his neck, drawing his attention back to her. Her eyes were closed as she gently bit his neck and then kissed it. She could hear a deep, soft moan climb up his throat and dissolve on her ear. She moaned into his neck as she continued to sprinkle kisses all over it. She could feel him turning in his seat and lift up the armrest that was between them. His hands were on her waist, playing with the fabric there. He kissed her ear and nibbled on it as his hands glided over her back. She threw her head back a little as he kissed her delicate neck. She could feel his cheek smoothly pass over her chest. This was too good to be true._


	14. Flashback: Sunday Night

**Wow, two more chapters left…can you believe that? I can't believe it! What I'm hoping for right now is that I can finish it decently, not too rushed and not too drawn out. I've been working on a few things so hopefully I won't stay inactive too long. I'm also testing out new fandoms so maybe no Danny Phantom fics for a while, I dunno.**

**Thanks to all my *sniff, sniff, tear, tear* wonderful, faithful reviewers, who are always there for me: Skaties, Thoughts-of-Nothingness, xolovebirdox, Jessi, Naj, angel-of-the-obvious, bloodmoon13, Devilchild93 and ShortSweet'NToThePoint! Sorry about review replies. :(**

**Chapter 14: Flashback: Sunday Night**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom…or an LG phone which as you can see, I am obsessed with.**

Benjamin seethed in his bed of hatred. His mind couldn't focus on anything but the bitch he had married. He hadn't even wanted to marry her…damn his ambitions! When he had first seen Samantha he had thought her pretty but strange and secretive. All in all, he hadn't been interested. But who would be interested if they already had the love of their life? Unfortunately, he had a dream. A dream of becoming a top, 'I earn a million dollars a month' lawyer. He had been young and scared of being rejected because of his bisexuality…so he had approached her and eventually married her. She had always been distant and disconnected. His purely good intentions seeped through his fingers and his need for love and a real relationship led him to unfaithfulness. Sleeping with a different guy or girl every night gave him a pleasure that couldn't be matched, so he continued…until he had had an AIDS scare. Then he had decided to take it one person at a time.

Sam didn't even enter this picture, his true life. She was only someone who made him look good on the surface and someone who cleaned his house and cooked his food. She could have been disposed of easily and he could have remarried, but he had found someone who was so unobservant that she didn't realize him coming home way too late or not at all or like on Valentine's Day when he had spent the day with Martin, his current loverboy. He had thought Martin his second soul mate (his first being Dmitri) until he had met Daniel.

Daniel had been from the start a bad boy. Dressed in black, sitting in a bar drinking nothing, just staring at his steepled fingers, ears pricked to pick up any danger. Typical position of an ex-convict. His long, glossy raven hair and his electrifying blue eyes had caught Benjamin's attention. The way his body moved under the leather and his muscles pushing against the fabric drove Benjamin to do something brash in the hope that he, Daniel would come to his rescue. He had spilt his beer on a big guy, obviously also an ex-convict. Benjamin could always spot them ,after all, he had helped to put many of them in prison.

It had worked; Daniel had come to his 'damsel in distress'. It didn't take long for Daniel to scare the man, just a look into his eyes told you that you didn't want to be on his bad side. Benjamin had kicked up his flirting that night, but Daniel had brushed it off as nothing making it seem like he was straight. That didn't matter, Benjamin had seen many "straight" men and women go gay. Though he had titled himself bisexual, he found out he was more interested in guys than girls.

Benjamin had invited him home, wanting him to eat dinner with him…he had first thought about bringing him to a private dinner, but when dealing with straight men, you couldn't make your intentions known until they had started to break. So, he invited Daniel to dinner with his family hoping to prove that he didn't love his wife as much as he should and that the feeling was mutual. Samantha, being the bitch that she was, obviously liked him too and faked a fainting spell to get him to fall for her. He had wanted to choke her right there and then and kill her, but he had kept his control and put on an act. A very good one at that.

It had been hard for a while with him being infatuated with Danny while having a relationship with Martin. Until he told Martin how he felt with tears streaming down his face and "I'm sorry's" pouring out of his mouth after every other word. Martin had accepted it and they had made the sweetest love that night. Martin had stood by his side and told him that until he, Benjamin, could get with Daniel then he, Martin, would be Benjamin's boyfriend. Martin would forever love him, but he could not hold Benjamin back from what he truly wanted. Benjamin knew that Martin would be there for him always, no matter what.

"Excuse me Mr. Nichols, but you have a visitor. Is it ok for me to send him in?" A cute nurse in a short uniform asked as she poked her head into his room. Ben smiled, charmingly at her.

"Do you know who the visitor is, lovely Charlotte?" He asked.

"He says he's your co-worker….I think his name is Martin," Nurse Charlotte said. Benjamin became excited.

"Yes! Send him in immediately. No need for him to wait much longer!"

"Ok, I'll go do that," she said and winked at him and left. Benjamin grinned. He could hit that if he wanted to.

Martin came through the door not too long after Nurse Charlotte had left wearing T-shirt and jeans with sneakers. His short blonde hair, golden actually, shone even without light anywhere close by and his dark blue eyes showed concern with another emotion hidden beneath it. His lean body moved slowly under his clothes and Benjamin was wondering how long it would take…

"Benjamin! Oh my goodness! I was so worried about you! I heard there was an accident and I had to get a day off from work to come and visit you! I'm so glad to see that you're alright!" He said, embracing Benjamin, keeping his head between his hands when he pulled back.

"You'd never believed what happened. That slut pushed me down my stairs. My own very set of stairs!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"Calm down, honey," Martin said and leaned forward to kiss Benjamin on the lips.

"How can I calm down when I am in this freakin' hospital bed because of her!"

"Did you break anything?"

"No. I only sprained my ankle and cut myself a few times. I don't know why they're keeping me here. I don't know what she told them to make them keep me here! I want to kill her! As soon as I get out of here, I am going to divorce her and put her in jail. How could she forget that I am a lawyer? Damnnit! I don't even need a judge to put her in prison for the rest of her life! How much more stupid can she get?" Benjamin fumed. Martin sat in the chair beside Benjamin's bed, his face serious.

"What if I told you that there is a way to get your revenge? And by doing it this way, we both get something out of it," Martin said. Benjamin looked at Martin quizzically.

"What are you trying to say?" Benjamin asked.

"I haven't been completely honest with you, Benjamin,' Martin admitted. Benjamin took a deep breath, disbelief spreading across his face. He trusted this guy…what was going on here?

"I don't understand. It's been…how many years has it been?" Benjamin asked.

"The love that I have for you is not a lie, my name isn't a lie either. I don't really have a name. And I've been around longer than you can imagine. You see, Benjamin…I am a ghost," Martin said with all seriousness.

"Ghost? I thought they all lived in…in Amity…" Benjamin said, a few things finally connecting. Samantha had lived in Amity for a while, and so had Daniel.

"And I have known and hated Samantha and Daniel for the last seven years of my life. Do you want to know why?"

"Are you trying to tell me that Daniel and Samantha have known each other for…longer than we have been dating and married?" Benjamin asked.

"Not only do they know each other, they were once together. Boyfriend and lovely girlfriend in love and inseparable. Their union wasn't one that was meant to last. Daniel had problems with my master, Lord Plasmius, and he was destined to ruin. He tried to fight and killed my Master with the help of Samantha who put herself in enemy's territory to trick us. It worked, unfortunately, and my master was killed. However, he didn't die in vain. Daniel was sent to prison after that for killing Vlad Masters, the human half of Plasmius."

"Human half? Was this Lord Plasmius a ghost?"

"He was a halfa. Half ghost , half human, just like Daniel."

"Daniel is half a ghost?"

"And his son, your adopted son, Samantha's biological son, Shaire, is a quarter of a ghost," Martin said, happy with all the secrets coming out into the light. He had everyone where he wanted them. Benjamin had proved the idiot that Martin/Tony/Camouflage had first thought he was.

Martin had entered Benjamin's life a few months after Benjamin married Samantha. He had hated her and wanted revenge. He knew Daniel wouldn't stay in prison too long, he knew that the moment he anonymously dropped off the video of Daniel "killing Vlad" at the police station. And he knew that after he had been set free, he would find her and try to steal her back. Then he would enter the action. It was pure good luck that Benjamin was bisexual, it made him trust Martin more than he should. Benjamin had played right into his hands. Benjamin wanted revenge and he wanted Danny. He would have both…until Martin got tired of him and killed him.

Martin was also going to get what he wanted. He wanted to kill Samantha for playing with his feelings. He had really truly liked her in a sadistic way, which was why he had refrained from raping her. He didn't want to kill her (he kills his mates) no matter the need of satisfaction. Killing his mates gave him that rush of adrenaline that he couldn't describe. It sent chills of excitement, almost orgasmic, through his body. He had thought he'd enjoy her a little before he raped her and killed her. She wouldn't have sex with him unless she was forced, he knew that.

He regretted not killing her and over the years, the need to have her life almost drove him insane. So he tracked her down and came up with a brilliant plan. And it had all played out perfectly…he only wanted Benjamin to agree. And he knew Benjamin would agree. He would go to any lengths to get Daniel for himself. Who could blame him, Daniel was like an Adonis. Martin didn't want to accept it, but even he had had a thing for Daniel. However, his need to kill far outweighed any other emotion and Martin didn't regret many things.

"I find this very hard to believe," Benjamin said, eyes wide open in surprise and disbelief. Martin quickly faded out of his human skin, allowing the man in the hospital bed to see his true from. Benjamin covered his mouth, trying not to scream. Martin smirked.

"Do you believe now?" He asked, allowing his voice to echo eerily. Benjamin nodded fiercely.

"I believe you now, Martin…but what do you want me to do?" Benjamin asked, trying to make it seem as if he had overcome his new found fear and surprise.

"Well, we don't get to kill Samantha yet, which is disappointing, but necessary. We use her as bait. We use both her and Zoey as bait for Daniel. I want Daniel to work for me, follow my orders you know, so that I can become the next king of the ghost zone. I want Shaire to work for me too. I don't know what talents he has, but he's a new kind of ghost and I want to test his skills. More than likely, he'll be useful. So I use both of them, threatening to kill Samantha and Zoey, so that they do whatever I want," Martin said. He had every detail planned.

"So, what do you need me for?" Benjamin asked. Martin smiled.

"As you have noticed, I have a little talent that comes in handy. I can change into anyone that I want to and by doing that, Daniel can't sense me. I want to change into you," Martin said, he was getting somewhere.

"Umm…is that safe?

"I change into you, go to your house leaving you at my place tomorrow night. They will be here that night, I've planned a little surprise for our bait," Martin chuckled evilly.

"And then what happens?"

"I do a few ghostly tricks. Daniel can't sense me when I'm in camouflage but Samantha figures it out. When she does, she'll go rushing off to Danny. Then I'll come and get you. If she brings the kids with her then I'll have to work very hard to get them away from her and to you. If she leaves them at the house then everything will go well."

"What am I to do with those brats?" Benjamin spat, hating Shaire almost as much as he hated Samantha.

"You keep them in your company, tie them up or whatever, just keep them away from the fight. You have to tie up Sam too. Only Danny and I must fight. When I defeat him then I will explain my plan to him Then, yes, here comes the good part, then we bring them to the ghost zone. To Lord Plasmius's old castle and we put Samantha and Zoey in a cell. We get to torture them will Daniel is watching. Then, then I will force them to take on my plan."

"How do you know Daniel will obey you, what if he defeats you?"

"He won't. He's rusty and I have been busy for the past seven years. Also, I can use Samantha and Zoey as a bargaining ticket," Martin said, grinning. His plan made him happy. Benjamin stared at the ceiling, the plan running through his head quickly. He was reviewing it, searching for any weak spots. He was worrying about Daniel defeating Martin…but the plan was good and just as how Martin was trusting him to come through on his end, he would also trust Martin to come through. It could work. It would work and just in case it didn't, he was already coming up with a back-up plan.

"I think it sounds brilliant," Benjamin said turning to Martin.

"So, are you in?" Martin asked, leaning forward. Benjamin grinned wickedly, visions of a bleeding Samantha running through his head. Visions of him and Daniel followed. It occurred to him that he was so smitten with this guy, Daniel, that he would do anything…ANYTHING…to get him.

"Yes. Yes, I am," Benjamin said. Martin was so filled with excitement and expectations that he bent forward and kissed Benjamin so deeply and passionately that Benjamin's heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

**So, muahahahahahaaaaa!!!!! Now you all know the plan! And yes, Tony/Martin/Camouflage is recycling the plan…but, will it work again? I want to know what you all think of this chappie. I know its short, but it's very informative! You all know everything that was a secret. If I haven't explained anything, just tell me so I can correct it! Yay, two more chappies to go! And 112 reviews!! Yayyyyy!!! All I need now is chocolate.**


	15. The End?

**Ok, so this is the penultimate chapter. It's almost over my friends. And I won't be writing Danny Phantom until Christmas…wait…what am I saying? I have another DP fanfic writing now, so if you all are interested, you know where to find it. Too bad Internet Explorer keeps kicking me off when I'm trying to get a new story going. :(**

**Thanks to all my reviewers! And you should hurt me for not answering your reviews personally, but please hold that off until I'm finished: Thoughts-of-Nothingness, Devilchild93, ShortSweet'NToThePoint, bloodmoon13, Skaties, angel-of-the-obvious, Jessi and Amour de l'eau.**

**Chapter 15: The End?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful Danny Phantom…or that new phone…I'm obsessed I tell you…OBSESSED!! Oh…and I don't own Flash, the fastest man alive.**

Phantom could feel the pressure building inside of him as he slammed into the ground outside of the house, Camouflage landing on him. He couldn't fight back, he couldn't feel the pain, he couldn't even see what was in front of him. But what he could see was Sam, his Sam, the Sam he had loved since forever it seemed, yelling in pain at the bottom of a flight of steps. He couldn't manage it, not Sam crying, feeling pain. Not Sam looking helpless. No, he couldn't bear the thought much less the image and he could feel something stirring inside of him. It was power…he could feel it. He lay blindly on the ground, seemingly dead. Camouflage's laugh echoed all around as he sent plasma blast after plasma blast straight into Phantom's chest, his target: the lungs and heart. But the halfa couldn't hear the echoing laugh, neither could he feel the pain he was meant to feel. His mind was being drowned with memories.

Suddenly he felt as if he could produce a ghostly wail that would send Asia spiraling into North America. He felt as if in one breath, he could send the world into another ice age. He felt that an ectoplasmic blast from his finger could destroy an entire city. He felt powerful and he felt the need for revenge.

The pressure inside of him couldn't be controlled any longer and just like pressing building up under the cover of a pot on the stove, Phantom erupted. The power flowed through him, just like blood and he flung Camouflage off of him with his telekinesis. Camouflage went screaming and flying hundreds of metres into the air before landing not too far from Phantom.

Phantom got to his feet without hesitation and with blood in his eyes, he walked over to Camouflage, slowly. Camouflage got to his feet, a swift move, and sent one of his heat blasts to the approaching madman.

Phantom, moving at lightning speed, grabbed the ball and did something impossible. He froze the outside, the fire still raging beneath the ice and he sent it back to Camouflage before the evil ghost could half blink.

It caught Camouflage off guard, both in timing and intensity. It slammed into his shoulder, breaking the bone there. He screamed as he felt his bones freeze completely. He fell in the ground, clutching his arm when the fire spread through it, melting away everything. He watched in horror as his right hand melted away to nothing. There was nothing there…he only had one arm. He screamed even more at the realization. Something in the back of his mind told him that his plan wouldn't become reality. Everything was going wrong. He could feel everything just slipping through his fingers.

All his years of planning and acting were of no use now, just a miserable way to spend the last few years of his incredibly long life. His hope was destroyed with his arm and as he looked at the approaching figure, danger and hatred creating his aura, he felt as if he might as well take his own life.

Phantom was ruthless now; he had no control over what he was doing or what he knew he was going to do. His plan was simple: kill Camouflage and then kill Ben. His actions came easily, his brain only thinking about 'kill Camouflage and then kill Ben', he could barely see Sam now. He didn't want to see her, because when he did, he saw her in pain. And it would only drive him insane, and he would lose himself completely to his ghost side, a problem he had never encountered before. A problem he was unfamiliar with. Giving himself over to his ghostly half in his current state would not go down well with the world. He'd go on a killing spree, killing his human side and giving in to his obsession at death.

No matter what little control he had, he would not allow that to happen.

Camouflage jumped to his feet, indecisive halting his actions. Should he take the cowardly way out and leave, just like he had seven years ago. Or should he stand and defend himself? If he did stay, both of them would not leave the battlefield alive. Either Phantom was going to walk away or Camouflage would. In a split second, the decision was made. Run. Run as fast as you can. Fly too. Just get away from him and never come back. It was just his bad luck that this thought hadn't occurred to him many years before, because today, he was not going to escape.

In the split second it took Camouflage to make his decision, Phantom attacked. Only one of them would walk away.

~~~*~~~

Benjamin swore as he rummaged through the drawers in the kitchen. He was looking for a first aid kit. He had no idea where it was. His blood splattered on the floor as he walked cautiously, already feeling woozy from his excess bleeding. He would kill her, no matter what Martin said. He would kill her very soon. And maybe he would just say that she killed herself. Any excuse to get rid of her. He slammed the drawer shut harshly and then kicked it. Big mistake. It hurt. Everything hurt. Who knew the bitch could do so much damage. He could even see one of her nails stuck in his arm. He drew it out painfully and flung it on the floor.

Then an idea hit him, the back-up plan was complete. He knew exactly what he would do. He would fake him own death and set up Samantha as his killer. She would die in prison, but first she would suffer. He would find a way to do it…even if it meant that he would have to go against Camouflage's plan.

He limped painfully into the bathroom. He took a deep breath and almost doubled over in pain. Yes, she had broken something alright. He gritted his teeth and opened the medicine cabinet. Ahh, the first aid kit. He drew it out, collapsing on the toilet seat.

~~~*~~~

Sam silently cried, tears streaming down her face and onto her clothes. Shaire hadn't moved his head from her leg since Ben had left. He was very still, quietly breathing. Zoey had curled up on the carpet, knees to chin and hands around her legs. She was creating a world of her own, a temporary one, just to escape. Sam could feel her children's pain and she couldn't help but feel responsible. She had brought all of this on them. And her mind drifted back to the day she had met Danny. He had warned her to stay away. Maybe if she had.

No. She would never regret not listening to him then. It had brought her someone that she could love without thinking, but true love for her had brought many disasters. But she would never regret not listening to Danny. Never. Then how could she blame herself for what was happening? Whose fault was it?

"Mommy," Shaire whispered. Sam's hand went over to his head to gently play with his hair.

"Yes darling, what is it?" Sam asked.

"Ben has changed his mind," he answered. Sam's interest became piqued.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked, desperately hoping that it meant that Ben was deciding to go against the big plan that Camouflage had.

"It means exactly that, mommy. And it also means that we have a chance. Camouflage is weakening and daddy is getting stronger. It really will get better. The only thing I'm worried about is…" he said, trailing off, his eyes trailing over to Zoey. Sam clasped Shaire's shoulder gently as she too looked at Zoey. She was insanely worried. Zoey did not look as if she was aware of what was going on around her. She had pulled herself away from it all…would Sam be able to pull her back from her world?

"What is he planning to do?" Sam asked, determination flowing through her. She pushed her pain aside and took deep breaths. Ben had made a mistake, he had not tied her up. Even then she would have been able to escape. She would have found a way to do it.

"He wants to fake his death and frame you. He wants you arrested and he wants you to die in prison," Shaire said.

'Damnnit, it's exactly the same plan as before!' Sam cursed in her mind.

"What is he doing now?" Sam asked, trying to come up with a simple plan.

"He's putting on a huge bandage over his arm. Good job, mommy," Shaire said.

"Thanks baby," she answered and crept off of the bed, pain flooding her body. She ignored it as best as she could and began to search the room for a weapon.

"I can help," Shaire spoke up. Sam turned to look at her son. A little boy like him shouldn't have to be fighting for his life.

~~~*~~~

Benjamin slowly made his way up the stairs, though to himself he was going as fast as he could. He was upset with himself. He hadn't tied them up, not one of them. How stupid was that? He was trying to make himself feel better by repeating in his head that Sam couldn't move while he had been able to throw her over his shoulder. She couldn't move, Shaire couldn't fight with his mother's life in danger and Zoey was so scared of ghosts that she wasn't able to even look at him.

He smirked, proud of himself. He had done a good job so far, it was too bad that he wouldn't finish it the way it was planned. He loved Martin, but this was something that his lover could not control. His hand clasped the knob on his bedroom door. He turned it and pushed it open.

He was instantly confused. There was no Shaire and no Sam, only Zoey, wrapped up in her mind on the floor. He foolishly rushed in and Sam appeared out of thin air in front of him. She swung a mop stick at his knees with her aching right hand, knocking him to the ground. Shaire collapsed on the ground beside Sam. He was gasping for breath. Sam gathered all her strength and kicked Ben in the ribs, over and over again, stomping in his ribcage. He yelled in pain as her heavy boots crashed into and broke many bones in his chest. Tears started streaming down his face. He blinked back a few tears, clearing up his vision. He grabbed her foot and pulled her to the ground. She fell effortlessly.

Ben smirked through his pain and pulled out a knife from his back pocket. He had made a little stop in the kitchen on his way up. He rolled onto Sam and grabbed her throat, squeezing it with all his strength. She started thrashing about on the ground, trying to breathe. Her knees weakly hit his back. He ignored the minor disturbance and raised his knife as high as he could. Gravity wouldn't fail him.

~~~*~~~

Phantom could feel his powerful telekinetic force push against Camouflage from either sides. Camouflage cried out in pain. It was as if two spiked walls were pulling together. He could feel the spikes piercing his skin and compacting him. He tried to fight it, using his own force to push it away from him. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and the doomed walls were pushed away from him slowly. He gritted his teeth and pulled his lips up a little in a smile that came out as a grimace.

"I will beat you," Camouflage said, breathlessly, a little hope flowing through him. He had a way to get out of this. Phantom's face remained deathly, his eyes emotionless, his mouth a thin line.

"No, you won't. I'm positive of that," he said.

"Ha! Did you think I would really enter a fight without a way out? You must be even more stupid than I had thought! Right now Ben is holding your lover and her precious children captive! If you don't give up right now, I will have him kill all of them and you will have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life!" Camouflage yelled with an evil twist to his mouth.

Camouflage had crossed the line. Phantom always knew it was going to come, the real danger that is, but actually hearing it is much different than knowing it would come it turns out. He opened his mouth and let out an incredible yowl of pain, splitting himself into two and producing a ghostly wail at the same time.

Camouflage's eyes widened as he truly saw the end of his plan and the end of his life come hurtling towards him in sound waves. It hit him and sent him spiraling across the property, over the house and a good couple miles out of Amity. Phantom #1 wasted no time in racing after him. He was gone, moving faster than Flash himself.

Phantom #2 went flying to the house at breakneck speed, crashing through the Ben's bedroom ceiling and landing gracefully on the bed. His mouth hung open with what he saw. Had she really done it? Alone?

"Is he…dead?"

~~~*~~~

Ben struck almost as soon as he raised his hand. Sam acted just as quickly. She grabbed his hand and twisted it as quickly as she could. He cried out in pain and did his best to throw the knife across the room. Then the scramble began. Sam tried to get from under him and to the knife, but he held her back and connected to the floor. She tried her best. She punched, she screamed, she kicked, she clawed and she thrashed about like a possessed woman. She was wearing him out. He couldn't control her for much longer.

"MARTIN!" He yelled as loudly as possible. Martin had to come to his rescue. Martin had to come and rescue him!

The knife skittered across the floor and bumped into Zoey's shoe, stopping on impact. She jumped and unwrapped herself, pulling herself as far back as possible from whatever had pulled her out of her dream world. Her eyes widened at the sight of the knife. It gleamed slightly and she reached out for it, tentatively. Her hands clasped around the handle and she took it off the floor. Her wide eyes lifted from the floor to rest on Sam and Ben, fighting on the ground a few feet from her. She eyes flicked to her little brother on the floor close to the fight, barely breathing. Her eyes narrowed, she gripped the knife tighter and she got to her feet shakily and quietly.

Shaire held on to his consciousness which he could feel slipping away, just like the sounds of struggle close-by. He had turned both himself and his mother invisible for a few seconds. He had never done that before and he didn't know how he had managed to, but it had taken everything that he had and now he lay on the ground, unable to move and barely able to keep his senses working. He heard a loud, ear-piercing scream and he was hoping that it was Ben who was hurt and not his mommy.

Zoey yelled, over and over again, tears streaming down her face with her hands white and trembling as she stabbed Ben in the back. Once, twice, thrice. He lashed out backward and she jumped back, landing on her back, knife still clasped in her hand. He got to his feet, thrashing in pain. He took a few steps and fell on his knees. Sam watched, eyes wide as he crumbled to the ground, his cries of pain dwindling, but his breathing still working. He was still alive.

Sam scrambled to her feet and limped over to Zoey.

"Give me the knife. Give me the knife," she said. Zoey handed the knife over to Sam quickly, her hands smeared in blood. Sam limped over to Ben and got down on one knee. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up to see his face. She smirked at his pain-ridden face.

"I told you Ben that I would kill you if you dared to mess with me or my kids. You didn't believe me. I think you should have because right now, you get to be proof that I never say anything unless I mean it," Sam said. She rolled him over and he looked up at her with worried and terrified eyes.

"Samantha? Samantha! What are you doing? Stop it!" He yelled, "What's going on? Why are we fighting? I love you! It wasn't my fault! Martin took control of my body! He overshadowed me!" Ben begged lamely.

"I don't believe a word of that. And it doesn't matter who beat me up! I've always wanted a chance to kill you," she said. She wasted no more time and the knife ended up in his chest. Several times. Sam watched as he took his last wheezing breaths.

"Is he…dead?" A new voice asked from behind her. She almost smiled. She turned to face him. She hadn't heard him crash through the roof.

"I think he might be," she said. She stood up and he grabbed her foot. She screamed and it was all over. Phantom had sent a plasma blast straight into Ben's face. His hand dropped from Sam's ankle and she pulled away from him quickly. She backed away from him until she backed into Phantom's chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Her legs gave way and she hurt all over. He held her firmly and lifted her into his arms. He set her on the bed gently and went for Shaire.

Shaire curled up into Sam's side as Phantom approached Zoey. She shied away from him, looking as if she would have some kind of attack.

"It's okay Zoey, it just Danny," Sam said.

~~~*~~~

Camouflage found himself flying again, this time, the way he had come from. He landed close to the semi-destroyed house. He was winded and destroyed. He had nothing left. He had misjudged his own strength and the strength of Phantom. Phantom landed not too far from him and before he could open his mouth to beg, he felt his body slowly melting away. He screamed, blood-curdling and ear-piercing and, like the wicked witch, melted into nothing. Phantom didn't give him any chance to recover or to savour the little life he had left. Camouflage was now nothing, not even a piece of fabric to prove his presence. He was sure not to come back now.

Phantom's eyes drifted up to Ben's room. Sam was in there and she was alive. Was this truly…the end?

**So, I hoped you all liked it. I knew it could have been better but I did the best I could when I was writing it. I would have put this out sooner but I didn't have enough time because I had to go visit my cousins over the weekend. Well, I'm gonna write the next chapter today but you guys won't see it till…the end of the week. Please review and tell me what you think since well, everything is over now.**

**REVIEW REPLIES FOR CHAPTER 14**

**Devilchild93**

Lol! I have no idea where that came from so I'm kinda disappointed because I won't get any chocolate. I don't know what is wrong with me, since recently I've been craving chocolate. Ooooo….I hope you're happy now!!! Because yes, Sam did kill him! You should be happy now!! Thanks for your review, it made me laugh a lot.

**bloodmoon13**

Thank you for your review!! WHOO!! I love making people surprised and confuzzled and all of those things!! Yay for chapter 14 and 15!! LOL!! Oh! Cookies for you for remembering that one guy, regardless of how you remembered him!!

**Thoughts-of-Nothingness**

Well, you asked for an update…HERE IT IS!! And now the wonderful story that has been going strong for two years is at an end. Makes me wanna cry. I'll miss it terribly. Before I start to cry, thanks for reviewing.

**ShortSweet'NToThePoint**

I should have told you long ago how hard it is to type your name. I'm so used to spaces!! Anyway,at least I got it right.

Ahhhh…I'm glad you still love it and I hope you will for a long time because it'll be done by the end of the week. I'm sad…but many, many thanks for reviewing!!

**Amour de l'eau**

Thanks so much for reviewing! And I'm ecstatic that you like both stories! Well, I hope you liked how they both died in this chappie, cuz I did…muahahahaaa!! :D!! XD!! You have a French name…I never really was good at French, or maybe I just didn't try hard enough. I prefer Spanish but boy is it hard!

**Jessi**

Sorry for not updating any sooner, I know how much you love the story. You always review though I don't think you've joined this site. Unless you're too lazy to log in…then I'm still glad you keep on reviewing! Yes, I know, it's almost over. I've already finished the last chapter. It is proof-read and author's noted. I just need the reviewer's names to make it final.

**angel-of-the-obvious**

Well, Ben isn't alive…and Sam kicked his butt!!!! Who-hooo! Power to the girls!!! Lol! Thanks for reviewing and sorry I didn't do it personally. I never have enough net time these days. :(. Anyway, the next chapter will be out soon so…until then…or whenever. :)

**Skaties**

I don't think I'm homophobic and I've been called a lesbian already though I'm not. Some people say they wished I was a boy cuz I'd make a hot one. That's such a shame cuz all I want is a hot boyfriend.


	16. Walking Down the Aisle

**Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, humans and ghosts, WELCOME TO THE LAST CHAPTER OF MY SUCCESSFUL TWO PART FAN FIC!!! I would like to thank you all for sticking with me, for being loyal reviewers (you know yourselves, cookies for you all!!!...and chocolate) and for encouraging me to write when I felt as if I couldn't go on any longer! Through writer's block and plain laziness, I wanna thank you!! To those who didn't review…I still love ya!!**

**Special thanks to all my reviewers for the last chappie, you guys get free skittles on top of the cookies and chocolate: bloodmoon13, Devilchild93, Skaties, Kirsten, angel-of-the-obvious, kiwi118 and ShortSweet'NToThePoint.**

**Chapter 16: Walking Down The Aisle**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom…and I will never own that LG phone!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!**

Sam was walking down the aisle, smiling outwardly, seething on the inside. Many people, sitting on both her sides, for many many miles it seemed, smiled up at her and whispered to each other how beautiful she was and how their Benjamin was the luckiest man alive. Sam wanted to roll her eyes at them. How stupid they were to truly believe that they were in love. They were all blinded by their diamonds and emeralds and amethysts shining exquisitely from their collars and bracelets and necklaces and brooches. She looked down at her dress, examining the details with just a quick sweep of her eyes.

It was beautiful, there was no mistaking that. White had never been her colour, but she had learned to change. Change was what drew her mind away from Danny. She blushed profusely at that thought. Her eyes caught Benjamin's beaming ones and he smiled widely. She blushed even deeper with embarrassment. How unfaithful was she to be thinking of Danny on her wedding day. But she couldn't help it. He lived in her mind constantly, never taking second place over any thought. She had lived without him for a few years, but she had never forgotten him.

She stopped walking and turned to face Ben. He smiled, lovingly and reached out his hand to hers. He leaned forward and placed a warm kiss on her face. Suddenly, she felt two very firm arms wrapped around her and she couldn't see Ben's face very clearly. It was as if someone was pulling him apart, tearing from both sides. Ben's face and the background swirled in her eyes and the picture became surrealistic. It became darker and the swirling faded.

With a deep breath and a slight jump, Sam was back in her room. Light shone down in her and she blinked, her eyes adjusting to the bright light. She could still feel the arms and the warm kiss lingered softly on her cheek. Her memory came back to her and shivers ran through her body, they were seismic. The arms moved gently and reassuringly tighter around her, trapping her arms beneath her and neatly tucking themselves into her stomach. She could feel a head pressed against hers. Warm breath brushed the left side of her face as that someone kissed her neck, just below her ears. She could feel a solid wall behind her, except it moved rhythmically with her breathing.

"Dan…Danny," she whispered uncertainly, trying to figure out what vision was real.

"Yes, Sam?" He asked, huskily as he pressed her to him. She closed her eyes. She could feel the tears just waiting to flow easily.

"I'm…I'm…" she started as he subtly kissed her cheek again and nibbled gently on her neck. His hands rested on her hands now. She turned the palm of her good hand upwards and intertwined their fingers to reassure herself. His fingers steadied hers and she tried to draw strength from him. She turned her head to the side and he captured her lips in a trembling kiss. It was soft and spread warmth through her body.

"Free?" He suggested for her. She twisted her lips a little and he kissed them, smoothing away the frown.

"I…I don't know," she whispered. He kissed her again and his eyes fell on Shaire and Zoey who were wrapped up in a hug. He was almost afraid to kiss her. He felt as if he would tear her clothes apart from his pent up passion and kiss her until they lay exhausted on the floor, unable to move even a muscle to smile. He could do it now, no one was standing in his way. He was itching to just press her against him so hard that they would became one and just kiss her to let her know how much he still loved her and how much he still needed her. He could do without air; he couldn't stand to be without her at his side, in his arms for even a millisecond.

Sam was feeling the same way, except she didn't know how to go about it. They had been pulled apart for seven years. What would happen now that she had him? She wanted him, she needed him more than anything on Earth that she could think of, but she was afraid that even a passionate kiss, just one passionate kiss would make someone come and pull him from her and this time, for forever.

Her eyes followed his and she saw her children. Shaire had his hands firmly clasped around a weeping and hollering Zoey. Zoey was shaking as if she was having a seizure, but Shaire held her with the intention of never letting go. Zoey clung to him desperately. She was terrified and afraid and she never wanted to open her eyes ever again to the world. Sam looked at Danny and he let her go. They were thinking the same thing. Sam pulled Zoey into a hug and Shaire let go, he knew Zoey was in better care. For a second he was alone. He felt older than he was. Until Danny scooped him up into his arms and cuddled him as if he were a baby.

Shaire burst into tears. It was all so overwhelming for him. He had toughed it through seven years of feeling unwanted, he had fought and won against something bigger than himself, he had found his parents and with them love and finally, finally he could settle into his 7 year old skin and forget responsibilities. Forget protection and watching out for oneself and one's family. He could now forget his troubles and sleep securely in his parents' arms every night. He was going to be living every kid's dream.

~~~*~~~

Sam watched them try to comfort Zoey who had stopped crying but was shaking furiously. She turned and saw them checking Shaire for any broken bones or scrapes or any injury of any kind. She could see they were just as caught up with him as she was. She looked at all the paramedics, neighbours, total strangers and photographers littered across her yard. They were staring, pointing, whispering and snapping pictures of her house…and of her. She made another turn and almost collided with Tucker.

"Oh my goodness, Sam! I left work the minute Danny called me!" He said, flinging his hands around her. She winced at his touch. He jumped back immediately and looked at her apologetically.

"It's ok, Tuck. I'm not going to get mad at you," she said.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," he apologized, sorrowfully, tears gathering in his eyes under his glasses. He held his hands behind his back like a little child who had done something naughty. He didn't want to hurt her again.

"It's ok, Tuck, don't apologize. I still love you," she said and kissed him on the cheek. He sighed and Sam could felt the pressure around them fall. Obviously, Tucker had been strung out on hearing the news. She was just glad he hadn't crashed on the way over.

Tucker jumped suddenly and pulled out his vibrating phone. He pressed it to his ears.

"Hel…" he started, but was cut off by a lot of screaming. He winced and pulled the phone from his ear. The shouting died down and he put the phone back to his ear. His face fell gravely when he recognized who was speaking. He tried several times to get in a word but the person on the other end would not shut up.

"Yes, Mrs. Manson," he said, looking up to see Sam's expression. Her eyes widened as Tucker handed the phone to her. He muttered sorry as she took it. She let out a sigh and put the phone to her ears.

"Yes mom," she started off.

"What is this I hear about Benjamin. Sammie? I hear he's dead…and that you killed him!" Her mother yelled. She could hear her father in the background yelling encouragement to his wife.

"It I hadn't done that, then he would have killed me…and my children," she replied. She walked away from Tucker, ending up in the destroyed house.

"Adopted children look nice, Sammie and so do good, handsome husbands who are famous lawyers and who make good money. I'm sure you didn't have to kill him for something as silly as slapping you. Couldn't you just take a slap every now and then instead of killing the poor, beloved man?" Her mother almost yelled. Sam's temper was boiling and she was trying to hold it back. Then she remembered…she had no reason to hold it back.

"I am no you Mrs. Manson. I do not settle for things that I do not want. The bastard hit me, threatened my two children and became involved with a ghost. He plotted and schemed against me…to kill me! I won't blame you for this because I am a responsible adult. I refuse to lower myself to the standard at which I have to point fingers and blame someone for what happened. I will not do that, I refuse to!" Sam yelled, trying not to let out everything at once.

"Ghosts! Oh my word, Samantha! This is your entire fault! If you hadn't become involved with that…that…that imbecile and Neanderthal, Daniel all those years back then this wouldn't have happened! I knew he was bad from the moment I laid eyes on him! I told you Samantha! I told you! No you have messed up your life even more! And unlike you, I do point fingers! Because the innocent people do not deserve to have something so embarrassing mixed with their name! I will not let you embarrass me, Samantha!" Mrs. Manson said. That was it. That was the last straw. Sam exploded.

"What the hell are you trying to say! I married the bastard, you friggin bitch! I put up with his crap and your shit for the past couple years! I finally stand up for myself and what do I get except shit in my ears telling me that I shouldn't have defended my children and myself! What the hell is wrong with you? You two only care about your damn reputations! About who says what about you! I don't care! I don't give a shit about you or what you think now! I won't even try and explain to you what really went down! And I still won't blame you! I said I would not be so immature and I won't! You see, as of now, I don't want you calling me! Or writing me! Or trying to friggin control me! Because I am my own woman and I do what I want! I'll make my own decisions! I won't make you or your damn husband step into my way ever again! I'm done with you, bitch! You and the shithead you have for a husband! I got me a good man! A man who has loved me for many years and will forever love me! I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY US AGAIN!! GET OUT OF MY LIFE AND STAY THE HELL OUT!" Sam yelled.

She pushed the end button on the phone as hard as she could and held control of herself before she flung the phone away. She was trembling slightly from the rush of emotion but oh, how good it felt to just let it all out. She smiled and released her tight grip on the phone. She eased it in her pocket and leaned against what was left of her counter. She ran her hand through her hair. Finally, she got that off her chest.

"I'm glad you did that," Danny's voice drifted to her ears. She turned to see him enter the kitchen, hands in pockets looking perfect, as if he hadn't been in a fight.

"Damn your ghost genes," she said to him with a smile. He walked over to her, stopping to stand in front of her.

"Don't worry, you look perfect too," he said, raising a hand to caress her cheek. She leaned into his hand, feeling like a cat being petted. He placed his palm against her cheek and stared at her face. Sam watched as his eyes took in every detail of her. Her heart started beating faster as her emotions ran crazy in her body. She shifted a little and he immediately grabbed her waist as if trying to catch her if she was falling.

"You don't have to worry anymore, Danny. He's gone…we can finally be…together. No one else is here that can stop us…right?" She asked, looking up into his eyes. His beautiful icy blue eyes.

"I'm not going to go, at least not without you. It's finally done, Sam. Really, no one else is left to prevent us from moving forward with our life. And it is our life. And we can control it," he said, still staring at her, dazzled. Her lips twitched as she looked at his. Couldn't they just kiss already?

"So…can you stop saying that you don't deserve me? Because you do. I don't know where you got that idea from, it should have been me saying I don't deserve you. You're a, dare I say it, a hero," she said. Danny shook his head.

"Stop saying crap. I love you and now I know that what I was saying was stupid…or maybe it was just because the person I thought was best for you ended up trying to kill you. I was proved wrong," she said. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him closer. He could feel her legs between his and he liked that.

"I'm glad you were proven wrong," she said as she kissed his neck, gently. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed her hot kisses which made a chain around half of his neck. It felt good to hand over the control to her.

"Kiss me," he said huskily. She pressed her hips against his as she teased him with her lips. She kissed his top lip, and then his bottom as if she were a ghost, so softly that it was impossible to tell if she had truly kissed him. She laughed against his lips. It felt good to be in control. She could hear him repeat "kiss me", whispering against her torturing lips. She moved her legs from between his and he moved her up to the counter. She trapped him to her with her legs and buried his head in her chest. She smiled at the torture she knew he was feeling. He lifted his head and she pressed her lips to his, unexpectedly. He responded immediately. His hands dropped to her waist to keep her to him and her good hand went up to his hair to play with it.

The kiss deepened as their tongues faced off, erotically. The room was getting hot and there was the sudden urge to throw off their clothes.

He pulled away and rested his head against her shoulder as he breathed hard. Her chest moved with his. They were in sync. He laughed quietly.

"I love how you do that," he said.

"I know you do. Get me off of the counter, please. I hurt all over," she said.

"Just one more," he said and kissed her. He smiled into the kiss, against her lips and she burst into laughter. He kissed her, shortly and then pulled away, moving her cautiously from the counter to the floor. It was time for her to visit the hospital.

~~~*~~~

It was how many months for her and the pain and how many months it took to plan the wedding…she didn't know, but it was long and there was Danny. There was always Danny. He didn't have a curfew and he didn't have to sneak in and out…though that was what he was best at. It was just her and him…and Tucker…and Jazz…and Shaire…and Zoey. And oh, how could she forget Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, her wonderful, supportive parents. They had been there when she had gotten to the hospital after the ghost incident at her house and they visited everyday with Jazz. Tucker too. Sometimes he snuck in with Shaire and Zoey after hours to see her, until he bribed the nurse, who turned out to be Valerie and then started dating her. Danny was allowed to be with her as long as he wanted.

Her parents…correction…Mr. and Mrs. Manson, were cut out of her life; she didn't invite them to her wedding. They would only bring hatred. Danny's family was her family.

Sam looked at herself in the mirror. She had cut her hair the way she liked it. Her simple blue dress was the prettiest thing. Her fashion interest didn't drift back to Gothic, but she never wore pink or light colours…well, except for her lovely blue dress.

Zoey fixed her midnight black dress and blinked at her beautiful reflection in the mirror. She had resorted to as little make-up as possible for the wedding, since Jazz insisted that all the females wear some amount of make-up. Nate said she looked very beautiful and he was waiting for her outside. They were just best friends now. The kissing never worked out.

Jazz flitted about Sam, correcting this and tucking that and being the perfectionist everyone knew her to be. Sam didn't even have to lift a finger. Jazz lifted them for her. Jazz had basically assigned herself the task of running Sam's life, or making it as easy as she could. She dealt with the lawyers and Ben's will, which ended up in Sam getting the other house he had not in another city and all of his money and cars. She ended up selling the house and buying one in Cambridge for Sam and Danny to live in…with their kids of course. She brought Zoey and Shaire to school when she won the argument with Sam. She would pick them up too. She was also the one to plan the entire wedding. See what I mean about lifting Sam's fingers for her?

Shaire was the only man in the room and he oohed and aahed at all the beautiful women around him, especially Sam. Valerie picked him up and swung him out of the room, saying they were going to leave Sam alone for a minute to think and that she was going to take him to Uncle Tuck.

With much fussing from Jazz, everyone soon left the room for exactly five minutes, just to let Sam have her private thoughts and to try to get herself calm. Exactly five minutes. Jazz would time it down to the second.

Sam looked at herself and smiled. She knew they didn't want to leave her alone, that's why Jazz was timing it, but she was glad they did. She grinned at the mirror as she thought that after today, her life would be complete. She wouldn't feel so terrible again. No, she would never have second thoughts about this wedding. He was what she wanted and vice versa.

The door was flung open and Jazz bustled in. She hadn't allowed more than one second over the five minutes to pass. Mrs. Fenton, Valerie and Zoey followed. For some unknown, strange reason, Jazz looked perfect, despite her hustling and bustling and twisting and turning.

"Mom! It's time!" Zoey squealed as she embraced Sam. Sam stood up and smiled with all of them.

"You look perfect, Sam Fenton," Maddie said.

"Thank you, mom, it was all Jazz," Sam replied, pointing at the beautiful red-head. Jazz fanned away the adoration and motioned for Sam to get going.

"It'll all be for nothing if you get in there late," Jazz said.

"Ok, ok. I'm moving," Sam said as she made her way to the door. She floated down the stairs and outside.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside. The sun was shining brightly but not burning everyone. The wind ruffled her hair slightly and she smiled and stepped confidently down the aisle. The song started playing and everyone stood up and turned to face her. There was a small amount of people and they were all smiling. She knew most of them. The others were friends and family of a few of her friends and family and she welcomed them all.

She could see Danny at the front, with Tucker and Jack at his side, waiting for her. She smiled brightly. It was indeed a wonderful day. She stopped at the front and faced Danny. Zoey and Jazz assembled themselves behind Sam and beamed at the sight.

"I can't take my eyes from you," he said, staring at her, truly under a spell. He too had cut his hair. He looked less dangerous now with his usual shaggy cut. She reached her hand forward and ran her hand through his hair. He grinned.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I wuv you too," he said and pulled her to him. He kissed her and everyone started buzzing.

"I thought that was supposed to be after the wedding," Sam giggled against his lips. He smiled and kissed her again.

"I simply couldn't wait."

THE END

**Well, folks, the end. It has been wonderful, these past two years to write this two part story and I am generally pleased with the response I got from all who reviewed and all who shared my stories with their friends. Now, please review and tell me how you think it went. Was the ending too quick? Or too corny? Too nice? Or just perfect? I'd appreciate the feedback. I don't know when the next story will be out but I'm missing this one already. Well, goodbye for now!! LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLLL!!**


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